Written question asked by Lord Clark of Windermere (Labour), in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 20 February 1997. It was answered by Lord Soames of Fletching (Conservative) on Thursday, 20 February 1997 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Ministry of Defence

Question: When he announced the closure of the Junior Leader unit at Harrogate, North Yorkshire; when the site closed; when his Department put the Harrogate site up for sale; which estate agent was hired to sell the site; what has been the total cost to public funds to date of the attempted sale of the site.

Answer: Dr. David Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he announced the closure of the junior leader unit at Harrogate, North Yorkshire; when the site closed; when his Department put the Harrogate site up for sale; which estate agent was hired to sell the site; what has been the total cost to public funds to date of the attempted sale of the site; and if he will make a statement. [16844] Mr. Soames: Following an initial announcement on 10 March 1992 by my right hon. Friend the Member for Epsom and Ewell (Sir A. Hamilton) when Minister of State for the Armed Forces, Official Report, column 496, about the future of junior leader and apprentice training, it was announced on 16 December 1992 that Harrogate was not to be converted to accommodate an Army junior leader regiment and that alternative defence uses would be sought. The site was formally closed on 1 December 1996. The Leeds office of Knight Frank commenced the marketing campaign in November 1995, but work on the sale of the site has been suspended pending a decision on the location of the proposed Army Foundation College. For reasons of commercial confidentiality, I am withholding information on the fees incurred in relation to this commission under exemption 7 of the code of practice on access to Government information.

Secondary information