asked the Secretary of State for Defence whether he is able to make a statement on the future of the naval base at Port Edgar.

The operational task currently performed at the Port Edgar Naval Base—HMS "Lochinvar"—will be transferred later in the year across the Firth of Forth to the Rosyth Naval Base —HMS "Cochrane". Once the operational task is transferred there will be no further naval use for the establishment, which will close. Certain of the civilian employees will be transferred with the task and others will be absorbed into the other Defence establishments in the Rosyth area. Some redundancies will be inevitable but these will be kept to the minimum and we shall keep in close contact with the Department of Employment about alternative job prospects.