Germany troop withdrawal speeded up (From Banbury Cake)

Germany troop withdrawal speeded up

9:00am Tuesday 5th March 2013 in National News © Press Association 2013

Around 11,000 British troops based in Germany will return home by 2016 under plans which will see nearly £2 billion invested in Army housing and bases, Defence Secretary Philip Hammond is to announce.

Under the speeded-up withdrawal, the remaining 4,500 troops will be back in the UK by 2019, a year earlier than planned.

Around £1 billion of the funding being announced will be go towards 1,900 new houses for service families and accommodation for 7,800 single soldiers. Another £800 million will be spent on infrastructure and refurbishment of bases.

The Government hopes the plans will mean more cash is ploughed back into the British, rather than German, economy as well as creating new construction jobs in the UK.

Savings of around £240 million a year are also expected to be made through reductions in operating costs.

A Ministry of Defence source said: "This will not only provide a boost to the economy, but also see the soldiers and their families benefit from new and upgraded accommodation.

"This plan will provide much greater certainty for forces' families and actually deliver the pledge to bring the Army home from Germany much earlier than first planned.

"The Army's plan will make it much easier for units to work and train together with a coherent laydown of units across the country."

Under the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review, the Government announced that it wanted to withdraw all 20,000 troops, plus their families, by 2020. Around 4,000 troops have since been brought home.

Forces will be relocated across the UK but are mainly expected to be stationed in Salisbury Plain, Edinburgh and Leuchars, Catterick, Aldershot, Colchester, Stafford and the East Midlands.