Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will place in the Library a copy of the business case for the disposal of Prince William of Gloucester Barracks.

Prince William of Gloucester (PWoG) Barracks is included in Joint Military Command (JMC) Centre contingency plans for potential resilience operations, along with all other available Defence locations in their Area of Operations. JMC Centre are aware of the pending closure of PWoG Barracks and will adjust contingency plans accordingly when the site is no longer available.

The Barracks currently host HQ 102 Operational Support Brigade, 167 Catering Support Regiment RLC, 294 Supply Squadron of 159 Regiment RLC, Army Training Regiment Grantham (ATR(G)), and various lodger units. Following the planned closure of the site, the planned moves for these units are as follows: ATR(G) is scheduled to relocate to Alexander Barracks, Pirbright; 102 Operational Support Brigade to Munster Barracks, Catterick; and the Royal Logistic Corps and lodger units to Kendrew Barracks, Cottesmore.

The closure of PWoG Barracks is being managed under the Defence Estate Optimisation programme, an intent announced by the previous Government in Parliament in 2016 which remains unchanged. As the site is becoming surplus to military requirements, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) is required to release it to ensure best value for the taxpayer; therefore, no separate business case for disposal exists.

The Defence Infrastructure Organisation is part of the MOD. It works closely with Army stakeholders, and is delivering the development of the new training centre at Pirbright, which will meet current and future defence needs and render the Barracks surplus.

Extensive consultation has been undertaken with the Army Reserve, local authorities, stakeholders, local residents, and service families regarding the closure of ATR(G). The MoD remains committed to closing PWoG Barracks only when alternative Army Reserve basic training capacity is fully established and operational.

A comprehensive Value for Money assessment has been conducted as part of the project management for the new bespoke non-infantry basic training centre, which will provide sufficient capacity to meet training and Reserve requirements while delivering efficiencies. Regarding the costs of relocating units and training functions from PWoG Barracks, these vary depending on size, complexity, commercial movement rates, and distance; such forecast costs are commercially sensitive and therefore not disclosed.