Oral question asked in the House of Lords, by Lord Lyell (Conservative). It was answered on Thursday, 25 June 2009.

Wellington Barracks

Question: My Lords, I thank the Minister for her helpful comments. The noble Lord, Lord Lee, pointed out that there were considerable problems with the Ministry of Defence budget. The Minister is doing a great job but can she please push on with one of the last elements, about which I shall let her department know? I was very encouraged that she mentioned the figure of 10 per cent for the next financial year 2010-11. That will be a considerable help to the new arrivals at Wellington barracks. We thank her for that. Will she please keep us posted on the details?

Answer: My Lords, the 10 per cent figure was the total growth in defence budgets since 1997. I am sure that noble Lords who have visited Wellington barracks will keep a close eye on the situation. I know that, through the work of the defence group, the noble Lord, Lord Lyell, tries to get a good cross-section of visits. Perhaps he will consider some of the improvements that we have made, such as those at Woolwich barracks. It might be useful to see some of the spending that has gone into very successful projects. As to the future, I am sure that the whole House will be aware that my honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Kevan Jones, announced earlier this week that there would be an advance of £50 million this year from the Treasury to improve service accommodation. Those funds will allow us to target improvements in accommodation for those returning from operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, which I think we would all welcome.

Secondary information