I beg to ask the Civil Lord of the Admiralty whether the rifle ranges and buildings ordered in connection with the Sheerness Naval Gunnery School, for which £2,000 have been appropriated in the Estimates of 1895–6, have been begun; if not, when will the same be commenced and completed; and what is the cause of the delay?
The work in connection with the rifle range at Sheerness (for which £2,000 is taken on account of £3,350 in this year's Estimates) will be carried out by the War Department as a repayment service. The commencement of the work was delayed pending settlement by the Treasury of general financial proposals for the joint ownership and maintenance of rifle ranges by the Naval and Military Departments. This question having been decided, the War Office were asked by letter dated May 30, 1895, to cause early steps to be taken for proceeding with the work on this range.