TNAG-1154-FCO40-1434-Visits-by-Members-of-Parliament-(MPs)-to-Hong-Kong-1982 — Page 166

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THIRD REPORT FROM THE EXPENDITURE COMMITTEE

17. The structure of the civil administration of the Services particularly engaged the attention of the Sub-Committee in Hong Kong. Although there is a joint Civil Secretariat for the Army and RAF in Germany, it was clear that the Army and RAF were for certain purposes administered separately in Hong Kong. We accept that the Army Command Secretary undertakes certain functions on behalf of the three Services; that the Navy could not neces- sarily fit easily into a combined scheme and that an integrated secretariat might not be significantly more economical (Q 52). Nonetheless the reluctance to formalise practical measures of integration and to create a single unified secretariat appears to be another example of the adherence to single Service practices long after they may have ceased to have real meaning or justification.

CYPRUS

18. The Defence and External Affairs Sub-Committee in the 1970-74 Parlia- ment visited Cyprus in May 1972 and the then Expenditure Committee reported on various aspects of the Service presence and diplomatic representation on the island (5th and 9th Reports from the Expenditure Committee HC (1971-72) 344 and 516-1). The change in conditions on the island was keenly felt by those Members who had visited Cyprus in 1972. The main impression gained by our Sub-Committee on their recent visit was of the disruption resulting from the community strife and of the speed with which the RAF presence, including their tactical aircraft, had been withdrawn from Cyprus following the decision in the Defence Review to make early reductions in the forces there.

19. The scale of forces and their deployment in Cyprus had to be reviewed following the fighting in 1974 and the Turkish invasion. The Turkish occupa- tion of the northern part of the island extending in the east of the island to abut the Eastern Sovereign Base Area (ESBA) together with the change in Greek Cypriot feelings towards the British Community, had led to a concentra- tion of British forces and their families into the SBAs. This caused overstretch of facilities particularly for families while at the same time refugees in the SBAs placed further strains on resources. As a consequence, tours of duty for Army personnel in particular were put onto an unaccompanied basis. Coupled with these strains, the Army had the additional task of patrolling the perimeter of the ESBA to maintain its integrity and to keep separate the Turkish and Greek communities. In the light of the heavy pressure on facilities, the rapid rundown of forces, particularly of the RAF, becomes more explicable. The decisions in the defence review no longer to declare forces to CENTO and to run down forces in the Mediterranean area resulted in a rapid withdrawal of Vulcan Strike aircraft, and the squadrons of Lightning and Hercules aircraft based at RAF Akrotiri (Q 54). The only aircraft which remain at Akrotiri are a flight of Whirlwind helicopters together with a further flight attached to UNFICYP at RAF Nicosia. Because of their additional duties, the rundown of Army personnel has been less drastic.

20. The principal difficulty currently facing the Services is the supervision and administration of the two SBAs and the maintenance of their facilities with a considerably reduced garrison. It is clear that it would be more efficient and logical to concentrate the remaining facilities in the WSBA centred on the airfield at Akrotiri, although several important communications and other facilities would need to be relocated in the WSBA at the cost of several million