PCS in Shropshire

The latest edition of Private Eye reports on Labour MP Chris Bryant’s support for the Defence Academy in Wales:

Bryant’s reasons vary from economic benefit for the principality (limited since only around 1,000 new, low grade jobs will be created) to his recent assertion that “this is about protecting our armed forces, particularly the soldiers from Wales, who deserve the best training they can possibly get”.

Hmm.  The “best training they can possibly get” will, as the last Eye pointed out, be provided by a consortium, Metrix, including two firms in Raytheon and Serco that have been booted off a huge immigration contract because they have been proved unfit for the job.  This and ballooning cost predictions (and falling demand) have left the value for money of the deal looking questionable to put it mildly, not least since existing training is well regarded.  Naval training given by the Ministry of Defence at 11 coastal training centres was recently rated “outstanding” by Ofstead.

The full article can be viewed here.

Tags: Chris Bryant, Defence Academy, Defence Training Review, DTR

The press association report on QinetiQ’s plans to make further job cuts:

Union fury at QinetiQ job cuts

Union leaders have expressed “alarm” after a leading defence firm unveiled plans to axe 325 jobs on top of almost 400 cuts announced last month.

QinetiQ Group said it is consulting with staff over the latest cuts, which cover jobs mainly in the managed services operations across a number of sites in the UK.

Chief executive Leo Quinn said: “In today’s challenging business environment we need to ensure that QinetiQ is focused on its strengths and is fully aligned with the needs of its customers.

“Whilst we must reset our cost base in line with demand, we will continue to maintain a full capability for our customers through our unique understanding of the global aerospace, defence and security markets.”

Prospect union national officer David Luxton said: “QinetiQ now has a quarter of its 6,000 employees at risk of redundancy over the coming months, which is both alarming and distressing for over 1,500 highly skilled scientists, engineers and project managers working at the cutting edge of defence technology and future capabilities for the armed forces.

“The scale of the redundancies, which are attributable to Ministry of Defence spending cuts, sharply exposes the vulnerability of private sector jobs to public expenditure cuts.

“Redundancies on this scale will have a devastating impact on many individuals and their families, and reinforces the bleak economic outlook across the defence sector – directly attributable to the spending decisions now being made by Government.”

Most of the redundancies announced will be at Boscombe Down, near Salisbury in Wiltshire, which provides technical evaluation and testing of the armed forces’ fighter jets and helicopters, under contract to the MoD.

Meanwhile Private Eye reports on the recent news that the e-borders project whose consortium included QinetiQ and Raytheon was cancelled a fortnight ago (see previous post).  QinetiQ leads the Metrix consortium which is currently due to deliver technical military training and Raytheon is one of the members. The deal has not yet been signed off and prices are rising:

Price hikes are now coming in thick and fast on the defence training deal.  A further £500m rise was quietly slipped out in a parliamentary answer by armed forces minister Nick Harvey early last month when he put the deal , involving a brand new defence academy at St Athan in South Wales, at £14bn.  It is now set to cost  £3bn more than it was a couple of years ago when official figures showed it would save, er, £400m.

Whether the extra billions are forthcoming will only become clear after defence secretary Liam Fox’s strategic defence review, expected this autumn.  Hence a massive PR campaign launched immediately after the election by Metrix using PR firm Bell Pottinger and appealing to the baser instincts of influential parliamentarians.

Papers seen by the Eye showed this would “persuade ministers in the new government that the gains of going ahead with the project – for the country, for the governing parties, and for them personally  – significantly outweigh any advantage to them of postponing or cancelling the project”

First target was to be Treasury chief secretary David Laws, before he resigned, followed by Welsh secretary Cheryl Gillan (“a know friend and supporter, but it is vital to keep her onside”).  Fox was also “vital to win over when he is facing many unpalatable expenditure decisions”.

The full article can be viewed here.

A freedom of information (FOI) request gives details of costs for external assistance from 2002 to date, detailing which companies and individuals have received monies with regard to the programme.  The FOI also reveals details of costs from 2002 to of costs of the DTR IPT.

The FOI response can be viewed here.

Tags: Defecne Training Review, DTR, Job cuts, Private Eye, QintetiQ

The Government has recently ended its £750m border security contract with a Raytheon-led consortium and said it had no confidence in the U.S. company.

£755m UK border contract scrapped

By Lorraine Turner

Friday, 23 July 2010

The Government ended its £750m border security contract with a consortium led by Raytheon yesterday, saying it had no confidence in the US company.

The contract was awarded by the previous Labour administration to a group of companies [also] including Serco, BAE, Qinetiq and Accenture in November 2007. They were asked to develop and implement a scheme to collect and check passenger details against police, security and immigration watch lists.

The Home Office said Raytheon, which provided technology to carry out security checks on travellers, had been in breach of the e-Borders contract since July 2009. Although the cancellation comes amid austerity measures, the Government, which has spent £188m on the contract to date, said it would seek alternative providers for the project.

This is interesting news in light of the fact that The Minister for the Armed Forces, Nick Harvey, when speaking on the decision to move Defence Training to St Athan, stated in Parliament recently that to change course now “would undo a great deal of investment that has already been made and add considerably to the final cost.”  The preferred bidder for defence training is the QinetiQ/Sodexo-led Metrix consortium of which Raytheon is a member.

A further article on the scrapping of the borders contract can be found here.

Tags: Defence Training Review, DTR, Nick Harvey

In the light of the recently slashed PFI programme – building schools,  an article in the latest edition of Private Eye questions whether or not there will be re-think on the biggest single PFI deal to date.  This deal on the long-delayed £13.5bn contract that will hand defence training to a consortium headed by QinetiQ:

But the coalition seems reluctant to cut the deal.  At defence questions this month, Lib Dem armed forces minister Nick Harvey, who is know to have had his ear bent by QinetiQ, even defended it: “To change course now”, he told Tory backbench opponent of the deal Mark Pritchard, “would undo a great deal of investment that has already been made and add considerably to the final cost”.

Just two years ago in opposition, Harvey was an outspoken critic of an earlier botched defence training PFI deal.  When the National Audit Office found that a contract to train armoured vehicle drivers had been scrapped after six years of confusion over “transfer of course pass rate risk” (and £15bn down the plughole), Harvey complained:  “PFI projects should only be used when they can be clearly proved to provide the best value for money.  Instead, the MoD appears to be signing up to PFI schemes without thinking, then throwing away millions abandoning them later.”

• The full article can be viewed here.

Tags: Defence Training Review, DTR, PFI

Denis Allen PPC for the Wrekin speaks in support of the campaign to keep Defence training in Cosford:

Friday 16th July 2010, 8:59AM BST.

Letter: It has been estimated that the livelihoods of approximately 30,000 people in Shropshire and Staffordshire depend on the continued operation of the Defence Training Centre at RAF Cosford.

It is a well known fact that the decision to move the Defence Training Centre to St Athan in South Wales was made not for “defence” or “economic” purposes but for purely political purposes.

There were Welsh Assembly elections due at the time and the Labour party wan-ted to avoid losing too many seats by being seen to create jobs in Wales. It is therefore amazing that a Conservative-dominated government is intending to carry on with this expensive, unpopular and unnecessary scheme.

Could it be that Armed Forces Minister, Nick Harvey, is hoping that the Lib Dems will become more popular in Wales and make political gains there at the expense of the people in Sh-ropshire and Staffordshire?

The Conservative MPs of Shropshire and Staffordshire are raising hardly a whimper to defend jobs and standards of living in their constituencies.

The Defence School at Cosford at present earns a lot of money for the UK by selling training to members of overseas armed forces. St Athan will not be able to do this to any extent as the highest earner – radar training – is being taken by Germany as part of the closing down of Cosford.

Many of Cosford’s highly trained technical instructors have indicated they are unwilling to move to South Wales. This in itself will create a problem at St Athan.

So this unnecessary, uneconomic and unpopular move will: A. be disastrous for Shropshire and Staffordshire jobs and economies; B. be disastrous for the UK’s export earnings; C. be problematic for defence training at St Athan; D. may earn the Lib Dems a few more votes in Wales.

Denis Allen

Wellington

Read more: http://www.shropshirestar.com/news/2010/07/16/letter-madness-to-move-training-from-raf-cosford/#ixzz0u272jsYV

Tags: Cosford, Defence Trainin Review, DTR

Morland Sanders profiles Mark Serwotka, the head of the biggest civil service union who is now on a collision course with the government over plans to cut public sector jobs.

Radio 4 Podcast

Tags: Interview, Mark Serwotka, Radion 4 Podcast

WalesOnline reports that David Miliband was speaking at the annual Keir Hardie lecture  in Mountain Ash last night:

SCRAPPING the planned armed forces training college in St Athan would let down the people of South Wales, Labour leadership favourite David Miliband will say today.

Mr Miliband, in South Wales on a series of visits, will say the scheme would save the Treasury £500m and should get the go-ahead.

The £13bn contract to centralise training for the three forces was handed to St Athan, in the Vale of Glamorgan, by the previous Labour Government.

But the final sign-off was postponed amid concerns over value for money and the scheme is being reconsidered, as part of a wider defence review, by the new Conservative-Lib Dem coalition.

A final decision is expected in the autumn.

What the report doesn’t mention is that the project has been downsized and is already over budget:

The PFI project is already 2 Billion MORE EXPENSIVE THAN ORIGINALLY PLANNED with lead member of the consortium pulling out. The deal was originally lined up with Metrix, a consortium owned 50/50 by now in trouble company Qinetiq and property developer Land Securities. On this dream ticket ” Metrix achieved the highest technical score” and was named “preferred bidder” however when Land Securities withdrew in December because of delays and cost overruns it was replaced in desperation by unbelievably a caterer – Sodexo!

Miliband claims that it will it will also save money… through consolidating existing sites and releasing service personnel to front-line duties and sales of surplus estate it should save £500m over the 25 year life of the project ? Miliband forgets that with the housing market hitting rock bottom, predicted revenues are now substantially less than first believed. Rising inflation has led to a ballooning of costs to £13bn.The amounts spent already are peanuts in comparison to the long term additional costs of being locked into to a PFI contract.

Tags: David Miliband, Defence Training Review, DTR

Earlier this week the government informed the Council of Civil Service Unions (CCSU) that it intended to introduce a bill in parliament that will include capping all compulsory redundancies at a maximum of 12 months pay and limiting payments for voluntary exits to 15 months salary.

Additionally they are seeking to make changes to the 1972 Superannuation Act to  remove the basis on which we were able to win the judicial review on the compensation scheme.

PCS has proved in court that the attack on the Civil Service Compensation Scheme was illegal.  Following the second hearing PCS wrote to Sir. Gus O’Donnell, the Head of the Civil Service offering to return to the negotiating table. That offer was not taken up.

The Way forward

The National Executive Committee will meet on 14 July to agree a wide ranging campaign strategy including a response to the government’s attack on the CSCS.

We are seeking urgent legal advice over the Government’s actions. We are seeking support from opposition MPs and also Assembly Members and the Scottish office. We are in discussions with the other trade unions over unity in response to this unprecedented attack. The PCS website will be updated regularly with information and resources for branches, reps and members. A Q&A for members will be posted on the PCS website.

Members are urged to:

• Write to their MPs asking them to lobby on our behalf against the new legislation that is proposed
• Sign up to the e-action on the and continue to use social networking and the local media to protest at these proposals
• Keep updated on the latest news and resources on the PCS website.

Further information can be found on the PCS website.

Tags: Civil Service Compensation Scheme, CSCS

A question in parliament on Monday has revealed that there is fresh doubt over the future of RAF Cosford as a military training base. The new coalition government has indicated that it has no intention of halting the plans to construct a defence super-centre in St Athan, Wales.

Mark Pritchard (The Wrekin) (Con): If he will consider, as part of the strategic defence and security review, the merits of the Army returning to RAF St Athan rather than RAF Cosford. [5314]

The Minister for the Armed Forces (Nick Harvey): Plans for the defence training review package 1 project remain unchanged, and consequently it is still planned for 102 Logistics Brigade to relocate to RAF Cosford in 2018 under the BORONA programme. Like everything else in the defence world, that is subject to the strategic defence and security review. At this point, no decisions have been taken.

Mark Pritchard: Let me be clear: Shropshire has a long and proud history of working with the British Army, the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy, but does it make sense, given the presence of the excellent special forces support group and 1st Battalion the Parachute Regiment, and indeed the logistic hangars and a very long runway indeed at RAF St Athan in Wales, for 102 Logistics Brigade to return to St Athan rather than to RAF Cosford in Shropshire?

Nick Harvey: My hon. Friend is aware that there were two different proposals in the final analysis for the defence training review facilities: Cosford and St Athan. Those were subject to the most detailed scrutiny to decide which was the better fit for our defence requirements and the decision was that the defence training review should relocate facilities to St Athan. We believe that there is an obvious synergy between that and other work at St Athan, particular in high technology, and a lot of work has already gone into preparing for that move. To change course now, as he suggests, would undo a great deal of investment that has already been made and add considerably to the final cost.

The Express and Star report on the recent announcement:

Tuesday 6th July 2010, 11:30AM BST.

Fresh doubt was today cast over the future of RAF Cosford as a military base after the the new coalition Government signalled it had no intention of switching plans to construct a defence super-centre at an air force base in South Wales to the Midlands instead.

Campaigners’ hopes for a reversal of the previous Labour government’s decision have been dashed after Armed Forces Minister Nick Harvey indicated it was out of the question.

The Conservatives promised a review of the transfer if they won power.

Mr Harvey stopped short of guaranteeing the £13bn project currently under way at St Athan would get the green light from the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition as part of its strategic defence review, which is expected to be driven by the need to scale back spending.

But said to “change courses” would “add to the final costs considerably”.

In addition, he was unable to shed any further light on shelved plans to move UK troops based in Germany to RAF Cosford – its only other hope of staying alive as a military base.

Plans for the movement of 2,600 troops from Germany to Cosford, due to start in 2016 under Operation Barona, have been delayed to 2018 – putting 400 jobs at the air field near Wolverhampton at risk.

Mr Harvey said the plans were still under review.

His comments came after Telford and Wrekin MP Mark Pritchard urged him to consider the merits of relocating some brigades to St Athan, while suggesting Cosford should remain the principal training centre for the armed forces.

Raising the issue during Defence Questions in the Commons yesterday, Mr Pritchard said: “Shropshire has a long and proud history of working with the British Army, the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy.

“But does it not make sense, given the presence of the extra special forces support group and the 1st Battalion Parachute Regiment and indeed the logistic hangars and the very long runway indeed at RAF St Athan in Wales, to actually have 1 and 2 logistics brigade return to St Athan rather than RAF Cosford in Shropshire?” asked the Tory MP.

Work is under way to move the Defence College of Aeronautical Engineering (DCAE), currently at Cosford airbase near Shifnal, to Wales from 2014.

Mr Harvey said the decision had been made that St Athan was “better fit for our defence requirements”.

He went on: “We believe there is an obvious synergy between that and other work at St Athan, particularly in high-technology areas.

“To change courses as you suggest now, would undo a great deal of investment that has already been made and add to the final costs considerably,” he added.

Welsh Labour MP Chris Bryant said he was delighted the Government was going to “stick with St Athan”.

Read more: http://www.expressandstar.com/news/2010/07/06/fresh-doubt-on-future-of-raf-cosford/#ixzz0t1VjGSBh

Tags: Cosford, Defence Training Review, DTR, Mark Pritchard, MoD

The second march and rally in support of the Shrewsbury 24 Justice campaign took place on Saturday and was well attended.  The event was organised locally by the Shropshire and Telford Trades Union Council in conjunction with the Shrewsbury 24 Campaign committee.  Supporters of the campaign assembled in Abbey Foregate, Shrewsbury from 10.30 onwards, in advance of the slow march that set off towards the column at 11.15.  On arrival at the column the many colourful banners were displayed showing solidarity with the Shrewsbury 24.

The rally was addressed by several speakers including a representative of the right to work campaign, Mike Abbot (Shrewsbury 24 campaign committee), Bob Crow (General Secretary RMT), Janice Godrich (President PCS) and Ricky Tomlinson (Jailed picket).  After the rally a social event with live music took place.

The background to the campaign can be found here.

• Photo gallery
• Photo gallery – 2
• Shropshire Star article
• Times article
• Short clip of the march
• Ricky Speaking at the rally
• A Very Public Sociologist reporting on the event

Please keep checking back, I will be adding new content as it arrives (including a second photo gallery).

Last updated on Jul 6 2010 @ 21:45

Tags: Shrewsbury 24, Shrewsbury 24 Campagn