'No plan' for 7,000 army children

THE government has admitted it has made no effort to work out where the 7,000 children due to return with forces families withdrawn from Germany will go to school.

The issue of schooling is one of several which opposition MPs have raised about the withdrawal of the British Army of the Rhine, which they believe shows a lack of preparation by the government. Currently RAF Leuchars in Fife is the favourite to become a base for a new super-garrison of brigades being relocated.

In a written answer to Dunfermline and West Fife Labour MP Thomas Docherty, armed forces minister Nick Harvey said no figures on school capacity had been gathered from the Scottish Government or English councils. Mr Docherty said: "This answer reveals that the government has made no attempt to actually carry out a review of basing requirements."