The RAF's two command headquarters are to be collocated on a single site at RAF High Wycombe, the Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram announced today.

The decision will mean the relocation of the Personnel & Training Command (PTC) from RAF Innsworth in Gloucestershire to RAF High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire and a reduction of 1000 military and civilian posts.

The RAF is undergoing a radical restructuring, designed to ensure its personnel are best equipped and trained for meeting the security challenges of the 21st century.  The decision to collocate the PTC headquarters with the RAF's operational headquarters at High Wycombe will deliver significant efficiency savings and a more modern and effective command headquarters structure for the RAF.

Mr Ingram said: "This programme of modernisation is vital if we are to create a flexible and adaptable RAF, equipped to deal with the challenges of the new world.  Creating a modern and effective HQ structure is at the very heart of these plans.

"I recognise that this announcement will cause disappointment in the Innsworth area. We are doing everything possible to mitigate the impact on the staff concerned.

"I have to make the right decisions for defence as a whole.  These changes will release resources from headquarters functions, so that we can invest more of the increasing defence budget into our front-line capabilities".