SEGRE RET
Government. This period will run from the current financial year and we assume that equal contributions of £12.5M a year will be made. Much of this, however, will go direct into NATO infrastructure programmes, and to help finance our participation in the European Defence Improvement Plan. We are not therefore receiving a direct payment to offset the cost of maintaining our Services in Germany; it is merely our overhead costs which are being subsidised and not the overall cost of our presence in Germany. For your information, the size of our forces in Germany is the order of 50,000 Army and 8,500 RAF.
5. You spoke to Gammon about the future deployment of frigates to Hong Kong and said you had heard that no more than one, and possibly It no, frigates were likely to be berthed permanently at Hong Kong. is true that we no longer plan to have two frigates there, but the Naval Staff have confirmed that it is still the intention to base one frigate at Hong Kong, although it has not yet been decided which frigate should be deployed there.
6.
I am afraid that I do not go along with your suggestion that we should revise the table of garrison running costs sent to the Governor in October, to take account of the reduction in the number of frigates. If we are to up-date this table, I suspect that we shall find increases in costs in other parts of the table which will to a large extent offset any reduction caused by the elimination of a frigate. If we are to reply to the Governor before Easter, there is no time to conduct an exercise of this sort, and I do not think we can be expected to amend one item in the cost table in isolation from all the others.
7.
I am copying this letter to Brack (Treasury) and Smith (DOE).
Jann
sencearly
SSECERET
The
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.