Written question asked by Gerald Howarth (Conservative) on Monday, 24 May 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 24 June 2004. It was answered by Ivor Caplin (Labour) on Thursday, 24 June 2004 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Ministry of Defence

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will list the fields of the (a) Estates and Lands database and (b) his Department's service personnel databases. - Inc fact that info only available at disproportionate cost.

Answer: Mr. Gerald Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the fields of the (a) Estates and Lands database and (b) his Department's Service personnel databases. [176382] Mr. Caplin: Defence Estates (DE) controls and utilises numerous databases which encompass a wide range of information related to the day-to-day management of the land we own and use. These databases include the Defence Property Gazetteer Maintenance (which includes the disposal programme), E Terrier (which provides details of MOD ownership and legal titles), the MOD Sites Information System and the Parliamentary Business database. In some cases these comprise well over 100 individual fields. Excluding the three Services, which all have a multitude of individual databases, so far as the Service personnel databases are concerned, the armed forces Personnel Administration Agency alone has in excess of 300 individual databases, each one having numerous separate fields. The individual armed Services have many other databases. I am therefore unable to provide the information requested as it is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Secondary information