KELLINGTON SEA CADET TRAINING SHIP

That this House notes that in 1993 the Stockton-on-Tees Sea Cadet Unit accepted a five-year loan agreement with the Ministry of Defence for the use of the former HMS Kellington as a headquarters, that in 1998 the Ministry sought to reclaim the vessel at the end of the five-year loan period but failed as the Tees Barrage had been built downstream, that consequently the Ministry proposed the transfer of ownership to the Sea Cadet Unit on the payment of £2,000 and this became effective in 1999, that the Sea Cadet Unit did not exercise due diligence and the Ministry, which knew of the hazardous contaminants and radioactive materials, chose to offload its liability onto a youth organisation working to foster interest in the Navy, that the introduction of health and safety legislation rendered the vessel unfit for purpose, that the vessel was repeatedly vandalised and became a serious environmental hazard and a danger to passers-by, that the vessel was dismantled and removed by the efforts of Stockton Borough Council, Able UK, and the Marine Society and Sea Cadets at a total cost exceeding £350,000, and that the Ministry knew full well the difficulties and potential shelf-life from centuries of vessel disposal but failed in its duty of care and legal obligation to exercise due diligence; and asserts that the Ministry, having been so negligent in its sale to a unit it knew to be woefully unequal to the task, should redeem itself by agreeing to enter into negotiations to defray the heavy cost heaped so unfairly on a struggling community.