Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the contribution of the Minister for Defence Procurement of 23 June 2015, Official Report, columns 861-62, when he expects the planned consultation to commence; and for what reasons this will be part of a separate strand of work to review all current bylaws at 200 defence sites.

The proposed changes to the water space at the British Underwater Test and Evaluation Centre (BUTEC) requires an amendment to the facility's existing byelaw. This proposal coincides with a wider statutory review of byelaws for some 200 defence establishments currently being undertaken by the Defence Infrastructure Organisation and is being taken forward as part of that work. It is planned that the public consultation process for the BUTEC site will start later this summer once preparatory legal work to draft the revised byelaw has been completed.

Separately, QinetiQ will shortly hold discussions with the local fishing community and other stakeholders on the possible positioning of in-water equipment and its likely impact on fishing activities.