asked the Secretary of State for War on what date he intends to carry out the move of the Infantry and General Service Corps Records Office from York to Preston.

The move of this office depends on the construction of new accommodation at Preston. This project is only in the planning stage and may take some years to complete.

Will the Minister bear in mind that a great many of the staff at the Records Office have already been uprooted from Edinburgh? Will he give an undertaking that before re-uprooting them he will give them at least 12 months' notice?

I do not think they need be alarmed at the tenor of my statement today.

Can the right hon. Gentleman state the normal delay between Government planning and Government action?

In this case it is a reassuring period.