§ Mr. GrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what conditions he stipulates about the areas of MoD-owned land over which particular hunts may hunt. [112247]
§ Dr. Moonie[holding answer 12 May 2003]: Specific conditions on access to Ministry of Defence land may be stipulated to an individual hunt as part of their licence for hunting. These conditions are laid out in the Schedules to the Hunting licence. MOD may at its 156W discretion deny access to any scheduled land; advance notice will be given to the Hunt of seven days under normal circumstances or 48 hours in case of emergency. All hunting applications must be made in writing by the Hunt to the Defence Estates office within the relevant area and a 'Permission to Hunt' form must be completed by each recognised hunt before any fixture takes place. As part of this form there are schedules which may contain conditions applicable to each individual hunt.
§ Andrew BennettTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many acres of land were used on a permanent basis by his Department in England(a) in 1980, (b) in 1990, (c) in 2000 and (d) on the latest date for which figures are available. [112358]
§ Dr. MoonieThe defence estate is kept under continuous review to ensure that it is no larger than is required. Since 2000 the Estate has consisted of some 240,000 hectares (approximately 593,000 acres).
The information for previous years is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.