56
(DEFENCE AND EXTERNAL AFFAIRS SUB-COMMITTEE)
11 February, 1975.]
[Continued.
National responsibility so that, at any rate during the initial stages, there is unlikely to be spare capacity but there is a standing NATO procedure whereby Nations may request the use of any spare capacity that may exist: and since all the UK's military air transport will be committed to NATO, once initial movements have been completed, these resources will be at the disposal of SACEUR. (ii) *
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ANNEX B
DEFENCE REVIEW-CIVILIAN MANPOWER REDUCTION-LOCALLY ENTERED CIVILIANS 1. In certain areas where we intend to withdraw altogether from our present commitments we have a firm figure for the consequent reductions in locally entered civilians. These total some 8,500 and the details are given below. Civilians employed by the D.O.E. on defence property management are included since their jobs are wholly dependent on the UK military presence.
Area
MOD LEC
DOE LEC
TOTAL
Brunei
116
3
119
Gan
494
452
946
Malaysia
6
6
Malta
2,556
1,003
3.559
Mauritius
320
161
481
Sharjah
104
104
Singapore
2,758
525
3,283
TOTALS
6,354
2,144
8,498
Much of the balance of the total savings of 15,000 will be found from reductions in Cyprus, where plans have already been made for savings amounting to over 3,000 by the end of the coming financial year. Other savings will be found in Germany, and to a lesser extent in Masirah/Salalah and Hong Kong, but it would be misleading at this stage of planning to give precise figures. The overall savings, however, should eventually reach the figure of 15,000.
2. The only places where our withdrawals are likely to have a significant impact on the economy are Gan, Mauritius and Cyprus, and only in Gan is the redundancy of LECS likely to be a major factor. When informing the Prime Minister of Gan of our conclusions, we offered to give help in developing alternative sources of income and employment, e.g., tourism. He welcomed this and preparations are being made for an advisory mission to visit the Maldives as a first step.
3. Mauritius already receives substantial aid, and in commenting on our proposal to close the Communications Station there, the Mauritius Government has not made any representations about compensation.
4. There are confidential arrangements between the UK and Malta Governments in which we have agreed that the reduction of LEC numbers will be evenly phased and will take place within certain limits. The Malta Government in asking for this assurance no doubt had in mind the problems of assimilating redundant LECs to new employment. Since these arrangements exist we do not contemplate any other compensation in addition. If for practical reasons we found it difficult to comply exactly with the arrangements, this would be a matter for negotiation.
5. Singapore is a thriving and economically prosperous state, and we do not believe -and the Singapore Government have not represented to us-that the redundancies there will create any problem.
6. In fact when our withdrawal from Singapore and Malaysia was announced in 1968 substantial aid was made available to them to help them meet the economic consequences. Singapore was granted £50 million in outright gifts and interest-free loans, Malaysia £25 million. Although the withdrawal was subsequently halted by the Conservative Government the disbursement of special aid was not affected, so they have already had a bonus to their economy.
7. Hong Kong is, like Singapore, economically prosperous and the redundancies should not create any problem there.
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