Mr William Taylor: The United States Air Force authorities at Bruntingthorpe do their best to keep disturbance to a minimum, and I know of no recent complaints. But I should be glad to look into any particular difficulties if my hon. Friend cares to give me details.
Mr William Taylor: I am advised that the United States Air Force has introduced the following measures to reduce disturbance. Engine running on the ground is prohibited between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. except when there is a strong operational need. Periods of continuous engine run-up at full throttle are kept to a minimum. [HON. MEMBERS: "Reading."] I have been asked about the steps that have been taken and I am...
Mr William Taylor: I estimate the direct annual cost to Air Votes of maintaining our forces in the Arabian Peninsula at about £13 million.
Mr William Taylor: No, Sir. This is money well spent on protecting our interests, in meeting our treaty obligations, and helping to maintain peace and stability in the Middle East.
Mr William Taylor: There has been a shortage of communications aircraft in the Persian Gulf. To meet this we are sending two more Twin Pioneer aircraft from elsewhere in the Command. We are studying a proposal for a further small increase.
Mr William Taylor: We are keeping a close watch on the situation, and I will bear in mind what my hon. Friend said.
Mr William Taylor: Excluding expenditure on behalf of the United States Air Force and other Government Departments, the proportion last year was about 4 per cent.
Mr William Taylor: No, Sir. The expenditure on an Armed Service cannnot be based on geographical considerations of that kind. Nearly half the money goes on maintenance which is governed by present deployment. Most of the capital expenditure is done at the existing stations, since it is usually much cheaper to expand or improve a station than to build a new one.
Mr William Taylor: I regret that this information is not available. Our liquid and solid fuel is bought under central bulk contracts, and we cannot tell what proportion originates in Scotland. Most of our food supplies come through N.A.A.F.I. and the other two Services supply organisations.
Mr William Taylor: I said that the information was not available in the form for which the hon. Gentleman asked. I am advised that our main aviation fuel contractor has a refinery in Scotland, but it is quite impossible to say how much of our fuel comes from that particular refinery. I am sympathetic to what the hon. Gentleman has in mind, but I fear that the scope for what he suggests is limited. Our liquid...
Mr William Taylor: On 1st April the Air Ministry was employing 2,235 civilians in Scotland. This represented 3·3 per cent. of the United Kingdom total.
Mr William Taylor: We are not unsympathetic to the circumstances which the hon. Gentleman has described, but the two matters are not really related at all. [HON. MEMBERS: "Oh."] We certainly do not ignore the consideration of local employment when other factors are reasonably equal, but, for fairly obvious geographical and historical reasons, most of our good permanent air stations are in England, and...
Mr William Taylor: I have said that I have a great deal of sympathy with what the hon. Gentleman has said. I have also said that the deployment of an Armed Service depends on the rôle which it has to fulfil. The considerations which hon. Members have brought into this discussion are really not relevant to that.
Mr William Taylor: I will certainly do that, but no one knows better than the hon. Gentleman that we have to deploy our forces where the best resources are available and not incur extra expenditure unnecessarily.
Mr William Taylor: Certainly.
Mr William Taylor: That is an entirely different question. If the hon. Gentleman wants an answer to it, perhaps he will put it down.
Mr William Taylor: One of our 56 air and ground training units is in Scotland, as well as 4 of our 17 University Air Squadrons.
Mr William Taylor: I have already given the reasons in Answers to previous Questions. We are, in general, contracting and concentrating our training organisation and there is no spare station in Scotland with permanent accommodation. I am afraid we just cannot undertake to spend millions of pounds extra on building new stations in Scotland when we can house units much more cheaply in existing stations in England.
Mr William Taylor: We have at present no plans to close Acklington. We are examining the possibility of using it for another task when the fighter squadron now stationed there is disbanded in the autumn.
Mr William Taylor: The only training affected by the B.O.A.C. activities at St. Mawgan is that of the University of London Air Squadron, whose flying could not conveniently and safely be carried out at the same time. The squadron will hold its summer camp at the Royal Naval Air Station, Brawdy, during June and July.
