FORMAL MINUTES
Wednesday 2 March 2005
Morning Sitting
Members present:
Mr Bruce George, in the Chair
Mr James Cran
Mr David Crausby
Mike Gapes
Mr Dai Havard
| Mr Kevan Jones
Richard Ottaway
Mr Frank Roy
|
The Committee deliberated.
Draft Report (Future Capabilities), proposed by the Chairman,
brought up and read.
Ordered, That the Chairman's draft Report be read a second
time, paragraph by paragraph.
Paragraphs 1-84 read and agreed to.
Paragraph 85 read as follows:
Earlier we noted the conclusion in our report, Defence White
Paper 2003, that the planning assumptions in the SDR had 'provided
relatively little resilience to enable the services to re-orientate
when called upon to do so'. We are concerned that if the size
of the Army is only just enough to man the proposed force structure
a similar lack of resilience may be experienced in the future.
Amendment proposed, at end to insert "We do not support the
cuts in the Infantry battalions"—(Richard Ottaway).
Question put, that the Amendment be made.
The Committee divided.
Ayes, 2
Mr James Cran
Richard Ottaway
| Noes, 4
Mr David Crausby
Mike Gapes
Mr Dai Havard
Mr Kevan Jones
|
Paragraph 85 agreed to.
Paragraphs 86 to 220 read and agreed to.
Annex [Summary] agreed to.
Resolved, That the Report be the Fourth Report of the Committee
to the House.
Ordered, That the provisions of Standing Order No. 134
(select committees (reports)) be applied to the Report.
Ordered, That the Appendices to the Minutes of Evidence
taken before the Committee be reported to the House.
Ordered, That several memoranda be reported to the House.
[Adjourned till this day at 2.30 p.m.
| 
