PCS Shropshire Area

The latest edition of Commercial Break reports on the recent round of redundancies that Capgemini implemented on its’ HMRC Aspire contract employees. In November last year the company announced a 20% cut in the workforce, which equalled to approximately 600 staff. This reduction was necessary in order to maintain an “acceptable level of profit”.

Following a meeting with PCS senior lay reps and HQ representatives in January, the employer agreed to a number of conditions including reducing the maxim number of redundancies to 450. In addition management agreed to a voluntary element to the selection process, which they had initially stated would be entirely compulsory.

The process of notifying staff that had been selected for redundancy was conducted by telephone and was very distressing for staff and managers alike. Following the selection and redundancies PCS HQ has lodged a number of Employment Tribunal (ET) claims against Capgemini.

• Capgemini Redundancies – Page 1
• Capgemini Redundancies – Page 2

The latest edition of Private Eye reports on Armed Forces Minister Bob Ainsworth’s failure to produce a parliamentary statement regarding the Metrix negotiations.  A statement was expected before the parliamentary recess but, due to there being a question mark over the affordability of the project, the statement has been deferred.

COLD FEET at the Ministry of Defence over plans to privatise military training under a £11bn PFI deal with the Metrix consortium of usual suspects Qinetiq, EDS, Raytheon and others (Eyes passim).

A parliamentary statement on the tortuous negotiations with Metrix was due among the usual unpopular announcements just before the parliamentary recess, but armed forces minister Bob Ainsworth thought better of it. “With negotiations now reaching a critical point,” he told staff, “it has been decided that a written [parliamentary] statement would not be appropriate at this time.”

The full article can be viewed here.

A further article reports on how Private Finance Initiative (PFI) deals such as the Defence Training Review have been used to hide roughly £200bn of future spending in order to balance the books. The full article can be viewed here.

Yesterday the Shropshire Star reported on the recent recruitment campaign that took place for RAF Cosford Museum staff. A drop in session was arranged where staff could talk to a PCS National Official to find out more information about joining PCS. The event was a success with many people joining up on the spot. Union officials see this as a great start to the campaign and are hoping to encourage other staff to become involved.

The Shropshire Star article can be viewed here.

Yesterday The Minister for the Armed Forces (Mr. Bob Ainsworth) was asked more questions on the Defence Training Review (DTR):

3. John Smith (Vale of Glamorgan) (Lab): What progress is being made on the defence technical academy, St. Athan; and if he will make a statement. [219809]

21 July 2008 : Column 516
The Minister for the Armed Forces (Mr. Bob Ainsworth): The Department continues to work constructively with the Metrix consortium on a range of issues on defence training review package 1 to achieve an affordable, value-for-money, acceptable and deliverable project. Negotiations with Metrix are continuing and both parties are working hard to drive down costs and obtain maximum value for money for the taxpayer.
John Smith: I thank my right hon. Friend for that reply. Will he take this opportunity to pay tribute to the integrated project team, Metrix and the Welsh Assembly Government for the way in which they are progressing this £12 billion private finance initiative, and especially their involvement of the local community in the planning and design stage, which has already resulted in a number of major improvements? Does he agree that, with a project of the scale, complexity and importance to the armed forces of this technical academy, it is important that we get it right and do not rush it?
Mr. Ainsworth: I thank my hon. Friend for his comments. As part of the planning process, we and Metrix are committed to an ongoing programme of consultation with the local community in Wales. We have involved the community in the redevelopment of St. Athan. That is a priority, and local comments will have a direct impact on how the details of any plans evolve. Public consultation exhibitions will take place—and, as my hon. Friend is aware, some are taking place at present.
Mr. James Arbuthnot (North-East Hampshire) (Con): But while it is important not to rush it, as the hon. Member for Vale of Glamorgan (John Smith) says, the defence training review does seem to be taking longer to come to signature than everybody had thought. In Bordon in my constituency, this is a very important matter because the regeneration of the town depends on everybody having a clear idea of the Ministry of Defence’s intentions. Are there any problems with the sale of MOD land that we need to be aware of? What is going on?
Mr. Ainsworth: The right hon. Gentleman is right that this is taking longer than is ideal. The financial appraisals have thrown up some difficult issues, and we are working them through with a view to taking a decision before the end of the year.
Chris Bryant (Rhondda) (Lab): The Minister will know that there is a warm welcome for this project not only in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Vale of Glamorgan, but across the whole of south Wales. There are people in my constituency who formerly worked at St. Athan and who are looking forward to the prospect of working there again in the near future, and many of them have important skills. Will the Minister confirm that none of the delay that has so far occurred has been because any of the services is reluctant to work with the other services, because where all the services work together in providing training they can significantly add value?
Mr. Ainsworth: The St. Athan proposal added significant value to training in the whole area that was covered by package 1, and that was why it was considered to be value for money. That is not the reason for any hold-up.
21 July 2008 : Column 517
We are getting total co-operation from within the services, and also from the local community in Wales. There are affordability issues, however, which we are trying to work through with Metrix. That has caused some delay, but we are still doing our best to bring this to a good conclusion.
Adam Price (Carmarthen, East and Dinefwr) (PC): This project was announced with considerable fanfare in the run-up to the Assembly elections, but, 18 months on, there is still no signed contract. We already have one empty aircraft hangar in the area that the hon. Member for Vale of Glamorgan (John Smith) serves as a result of a previous MOD U-turn. Does the Minister understand that there is fear in the community that the Government may be backtracking on the scale of the project, and can he reassure it that there is no truth in that?
Mr. Ainsworth: All I will say to the hon. Gentleman is that he and his nationalist colleagues ought to reflect upon the size of the defence training capability in Scotland and Wales were they to get their way and form governments in either of those places.
Mr. Robert Walter (North Dorset) (Con): There are obviously serious difficulties with package 1, and it is clear that package 2 will never get off the ground. Does that not challenge the financial viability of the whole scheme, and has the Minister considered looking again at some of the investment the MOD has already made in my constituency at Blandford in the Defence College of Communications and Information Systems—more than £100 million over the past eight years—and at not sticking with the original defence training review plan, which was to locate communications and information systems training at Blandford?
Mr. Ainsworth: We have announced a change in policy on package 2. As the hon. Gentleman will know, the synergies and, thus, the advantages in bringing people together, in the package 2 area were never as strong as those in package 1, so we are examining alternative solutions in those areas. Package 1 remains the best way of enhancing defence training, and we are committed to working through these problems and trying to deliver the proposal for St. Athan.

• Shropshire Star - Accusations Fly on Defence Training
• Wales Online - Investment Boost for Training Academy
• Wales Online - St Athen Scheme Held Back by Contract Delay

On Friday 18th July Shavanah Taj, a National Officer from the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) Union based in London, visited the RAF Museum at Cosford. Shavanah who represent members from the Culture, Media and Sport Occupational Association throughout the UK had been invited to speak to staff who wanted information about joining and forming their own union branch at the Museum.

H O’Harney, PCS Midlands Region Official arranged the trip so that during their break time those personnel who were interested, could drop in and find out about what benefits there were in joining a Trade Union. “It was a great afternoon and I was very pleased that so many of the Museum staff took the time to come along and find out how being organized in the workplace can have positive advantages” said Shavanah.

Following the drop in, many of those who had attended decided there and then to join PCS, with many more taking applications forms with them. Shavanah said, “This was a great start and now we want to encourage others staff to become involved. It is interesting to note that those workers who are represented by Trade Unions are generally better paid and have better terms and conditions than workers in companies who have no union recognition. It was brilliant meeting staff who are so professional and dedicated to delivering what is a first class service for the many thousands of people who visit the museum. It is only right that they should be properly rewarded for the work they undertake”

[Show as slideshow]

Today was the last Prime Minister’s Question Time before the summer recess. Local MP Mark Pritchard challenged Gordon Brown to admit that the Government had got in wrong when it awarded the multi-billion pound defence training contract to the Metrix Consortium rather than to RAF Cosford. This follows the recent admission by Bob Ainsworth (Minister of State for the Armed Forces) that the proposal awarded to Metrix has an affordability gap.

Given the worsening of public finances, would the Prime Minister give the undertaking to have a review of this undeliverable and unaffordable project - and for once admit he got it wrong?

The Prime Minister responded:

We now have the second biggest defence budget in the world and the reason is we want to see our troops properly staffed and properly equipped adn that is what we will continue to do.

• Shropshire Star Front Page
• Shropshire Star Page 4

Major doubts have now arisen over the multi-billion pound Defence Training Contract. The Metrix consortium whose partners include companies such as Qinetiq, Raytheon, Land Securities, Laing O’Rourke and EDS were awarded the preferred bidder status in January 2007.

Yesterday Conservative MP Mark Pritchard posed several parliamentary questions and for the first time the government admitted that cost growth and implications of the credit crunch may make the project un-affordable.

The Shropshire Star article on these latest developments is here.

The questions posed by Mark Pritchard appear below along with the responses.

Nord Anglia
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the effect on the Metrix Consortium and the Defence Training Review programme of the sale of Nord Anglia to Baring, an Asian private equity company. [217720]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The MOD will need to be content with all relevant arrangements pertaining to the Metrix Consortium and its subcontractors as a precursor to entering into a contract for DTR Package 1. The DTR contract is not yet let but Nord Anglia are envisaged as a lower-tier sub-contractor to Metrix. MOD will therefore be assuring itself that this change in ownership does not in any way preclude the inclusion of Nord Anglia under the terms of the proposed DTR contract, which includes specific provisions to protect the national interest. If these subcontracting conditions cannot be met, the requirements of the contract to provide the DTR services nonetheless persist and it will be for Metrix, as the prime contractor, to deliver against those requirements.

Click here for Hansard.

Armed Forces: Training
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the impact on Defence Training Review project financing of levels of demand from residential developers for his Department’s land at (a) Aborfield and (b) Borden. [217395]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The Defence Training Review (DTR) Package 1 Project plans to improve and rationalise phase 2 and phase 3 technical training. As a consequence of this rationalisation both Bordon and Arborfield Garrisons will be released for sale from 2012 onwards.
MOD has sought recent independent valuation advice for both sites as part of financial appraisals for DTR which uses prudent levels of values in its assessments.
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what contingency plans have been agreed by his Department for managing affordability gaps identified in the Defence Training Review. [217725]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The Department continues to work constructively with the Metrix consortium on a range of issues on DTR Package 1 to achieve an affordable, value for money, acceptable and deliverable project. Cost growth and the implications of the credit crunch on borrowing have been a significant factor. The Department has been working jointly with Metrix to drive the price down to seek to eliminate the affordability gap without materially affecting the scope of the project.
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence whether he plans to discuss with the Comptroller and Auditor General the treatment of the financing of the Defence Training Review programme in his Department’s accounts. [217726]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: The Ministry of Defence has not yet entered into a contract for the delivery of Defence Training with the Metrix consortium. The treatment of the financing of the Defence Training Review (DTR) programme does not therefore appear in the Department’s accounts and consequently there are no plans to discuss DTR with the Comptroller and Auditor General. One minor entry for a contingent liability of £9.5 million will, however, be included in this financial year’s account. This undertaking was laid as a departmental minute before the House for 14 working days on 29 January this year.

Click here for Hansard

Defence Training Review Executive Board
Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will publish the minutes of the last meeting of the Defence Training Review Executive Board. [217394]
Mr. Bob Ainsworth: I am withholding the information requested as its release would, or would be likely to, prejudice commercial interest.

Click here for Hansard

The Shropshire Star has reported that staff at RAF Cosford will have to wait even longer to hear of their fate. Although the Metrix consortium has been granted preferred bidder status the final announcement has not yet been made. Ministers had been due to make a statement on the Defence Training Review (DTR) within the next few weeks. This announcement has now been put back until after the parliamentary recess meaning staff will have to wait until at least September.

Robert “H” O’Harney, Cosford spokesman for the Public & Commercial Services Union, said the delay confirmed his belief that the project is hanging in the balance. He claimed last month that the Ministry of Defence was getting cold feet due to significant potential risks with the scheme.

The full article can be viewed here.

This weeks edition of Private Eye reports on the recent visit of Air Vice-Marshall Nick Kurth to the Defence College of Aeronautical Engineering at Cosford:

“I was very impressed by the training facilities that are available at Cosford,” wrote Kurth after his visit, “with a good mix of traditional hands-on work, for which there is ultimately no substitute, to the use of relatively high-end, computer-based simulation where appropriate and I question what further level of innovation that Metrix are going to bring to our extant training regime.”

His worries echo concerns that Metrix (comprising Qinetiq, EDS, Land Securities, Raytheon and others) will rely heavily on cheaper computer simulation within its academy to train engineers, in place of the practice on real military kit that would prove infinitely more useful on the frontline.

• Top brassed off
• Minstry of Defence’s concerns over it’s own plans to privatise defence training at an academy in South Wales

Yesterday the Shropshire Star reported on the potential risks involved in handing Defence Training over to the private consortium Metrix:

Highlighting pitfalls in plans to hand over national defence training to a private sector group is all part of the normal risk management process, the Ministry of Defence has claimed.

It follows the publication of leaked documents which list 15 significant risks with the proposal which would see 800 jobs lost at RAF Cosford.

The full article can be viewed here.