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Armed Forces: Housing

Volume 503: debated on Wednesday 6 January 2010

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what estimate he has made of the number of accommodation units of each (a) type and (b) number of bedrooms his Department will require for service personnel based at HM Naval Base Clyde and their families in each of the next 10 years; (309326)

(2) what plans his Department has to build new accommodation units at each location of each (a) type and (b) number of bedrooms in the Argyll and Bute constituency in each of the next 10 years;

(3) what plans his Department has to (a) renovate and (b) dispose of accommodation units in Argyll and Bute constituency.

Following the announcement on 6 May 2009 of the Maritime Change Programme, an assessment study is under way to identify the future accommodation requirements of the Royal Navy. Until this work is completed, the future of all accommodation at HM Naval Base Clyde has yet to be decided, including decisions on renovation and disposal of living accommodation.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many accommodation units at each location of each (a) type and (b) number of bedrooms his Department owns in Argyll and Bute constituency; and whether each unit is occupied. (309355)

There are currently 2,260 single living accommodation bedspaces at HMNB Clyde. However, records are not kept centrally to indicate whether a bedspace is occupied at any point in time.

There are a total of 515 service family accommodation properties at HMNB Clyde, broken down as follows:

Type

Number of bedrooms

Total

Occupied

Void

Officers

II (Rear Admiral, Commodore)

2 x double and 2/3 x single

5

5

0

III (Captain RN, Commander)

2 x double and 2 x single

38

21

17

IV (Lt. Commander)

2 x double and 2 x single

16

8

8

V (Lieutenant and below)

2 x double and 1 x single

30

19

11

Other ranks

D

3 x double and 1 x single

36

29

7

C

2 x double and 1 x single

244

162

82

B

2 x double

146

85

61

In addition, there are a further 80 temporarily unused maisonettes at Rhu.

As announced on 6 May 2009, Official Report, column 16WS, as part of the Maritime Change Programme it has been decided that HM Naval Base Clyde will become the main operating base for all classes of submarine, including the future classes such as the replacement for the Vanguard Class, as well as for eight Sandown Class Mine Countermeasure Vessels. The future use of accommodation at HM Naval Base Clyde is being considered as part of an assessment study to identify the best way to deliver the future accommodation requirements of the Royal Navy. Until this work is completed, no decisions have been made about the future of living accommodation at the naval base, including renovation and disposal options.