Sale of TA centres
31. As with the management of other areas of the
MoD estate, the restructuring proposals are being used as an opportunity
to dispose of assets regarded as no longer essential. At present,
there are 455 TA centres. The MoD announced that, as part of the
restructuring of the TA, they are to sell 87 TA centres. Twenty-seven
of the remaining centres will be retained solely to accommodate
cadet force units, which will leave 341 for use by the TA.[100]
The Minister told us that there were many factors that determined
the choice of TA centres to be sold—
We have had to look at whether there is
a need for a unit at a particular location. We have had to look
at whether there are alternative locations nearby when one particular
location has closed. We have had to look at whether the location
can match the functional need in that area. We have had to look
at the footprint generally. We have had to look at the cadets.
There has been a whole series of factors built in.[101]
He argued that "once those factors have been
taken into account and all other things are equal then of course
we will maximise our revenue in disposal of assets but only once
these other factors have been taken into account"[102]
and that, "there are some excellent properties that we are
keeping that if maximising revenue was the name of the game we
would have got rid of".[103]
32. The MoD expects to recoup in the region of £52
million from the sale of these assets, though this figure does
not include receipts from the sale of the Duke of York's Headquarters
in Chelsea.[104]
The Minister acknowledged that due to fluctuations in the property
market, a more specific figure could not be given.[105]
While the MoD cannot provide a timetable for the sale of the properties
it was stressed that, subject to operational needs, the sales
would go through as soon as possible.[106]
However, our witnesses from the TAVRAs were less confident that
the monies will arrive as early as the MoD hopes[107]
as they believe that what is being presented for sale is very
much "a mixed bag".[108]
33. The TAVRAs were sceptical that the rationale
underlying the choice of sites for disposal had been properly
thought through. They gave us examples of where they felt that
the logic had been flawed. They argued that had they been fully
consulted they could have delivered on an MoD instruction either
to sell a specified number of centres, or to achieve a specific
level of capital receipts.[109]
Of the starting point of these sales, Colonel Putnam said that—
If you are doing this scientifically, you would start
with a clean piece of paper, would you not? Because of the mêlée
of the last two weeks before the announcement, some of the decisions
to retain TA centres have been based on political criteria rather
than logic. If that actually happens, you will finish up with
things that do not seem quite proper.[110]
Examples given by the TAVRAs of this perceived absence
of logic included selling off one of the TA centres of 3 Cheshires
in which the TAVRAs have invested hundreds of thousands of pounds
while retaining a site in Crewe which the TAVRAs had programmed
for disposal, and moving a TA centre at Chorley to Queensferry
in Wales for no apparent reason other than to move it across the
border.[111] A more
thorough description of more deep-seated problems with the sale
of the Duke of York's Headquarters, including planning constraints
arising from its listed status and substantial errors in its investment
appraisal, was given to the Committee by Colonel Sellon.[112]
34. The Minister assured the Committee that the TAVRAs
would continue to be consulted on the sale of the TA Centres.[113]
The TAVRAs have a great deal of expertise in property management
and will play a central role in the administration of the sales.
We expect the MoD to be responsive to TAVRA advice on the disposal
of TA centres, and where that advice is found to be valid for
it to be acted upon by the MoD, even if this involves reconsidering
individual sites earmarked for sale. We also recommend some openness
about this process of consultation—we expect the Minister
to be able to defend choices made on 'political' rather than commercial
grounds.
100 Modern Forces for a Modern World: A Territorial
Army for the Future, Volume
1, para 18 Back
101
Q 175 Back
102
ibid Back
103
ibid Back
104
Q 184 Back
105
Q 183 Back
106
Q 176 Back
107
Q 59 Back
108
Q 60 Back
109
QQ 59-65 Back
110
Q 44 Back
111
Q 50 Back
112
QQ 51-55 Back
113
Q 187 Back
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