asked the Secretary of State for Defence how many properties in the ownership of his Department are vacant in north Yorkshire; and if he will make a statement.

At 30 November 1986, the last occasion on which data were collected, there were 906 married quarters vacant in north Yorkshire. Of these, 397 were being held against a major new operational deployment at RAF Leeming; 273 were undergoing or awaiting modernisation, works services or furnishing; 131 had been allocated to incoming families; and 29 were in the process of disposal. There was, therefore, a balance of 76 married quarters at various stations for which there was no immediate requirement. These quarters will be disposed of if no service requirement is identified.