Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has paid the National Trust for Scotland to lease St Kilda for the Deep Sea Range (a) in total and (b) in each year for which lease payments have been made.

The Ministry of Defence (MOD) does not lease a Deep Sea Range at St Kilda. However, parts of St Kilda are leased by the MOD from National Trust Scotland (NTS).

The current 25-year lease between the MOD and NTS began in 2003 at a fixed rent of £100,000 per annum plus VAT. The total rent paid by MOD to NTS for the period 2003 to 2023 is £2.52 million.

In addition, from 2008, the MOD has sub-leased space at St Kilda to the Northern Lighthouse Board at an annual rent payable to the MOD of £5,400. NTS are entitled to a share of this rent; the MOD pays NTS £1,485 plus VAT per annum under this agreement. The total amount paid to NTS from 2008 to 2023 is £28,512.