PCS Shropshire Area

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.

The Shropshire Star reports that local MPs are asking questions regarding the future 800 jobs at RAF Cosford:

It comes amid concerns about the costs of switching defence training from the base to South Wales and fears that young soldiers could end up on the frontline ill-prepared for war. Wrekin MP Mark Pritchard said he would be increasing the intensity of his campaign to keep jobs at Cosford.

He spoke after a leaked document revealed Ministry of Defence officials believed there were “affordability gaps and other risks in the Government’s plans.

Union officials claimed yesterday that the plans to concentrate defence training under a consortium called Metrix at a new £11 billion academy at RAF St Athan were now hanging in the balance.

Full article here.

The Shropshire Star reports on the 18 month delay to the £7.1 billion programme to equip the armed forces with a new computer system. The project is already £182 million over budget according to the Whitehall spending watchdog.

The Defence Information Structure (DII) programme is supposed to replace the 300 systems currently being operated by the forces and the Ministry of Defence with a single system.

However the National Audit Office said that “concerted action” was now needed to get the programme back on track after it became the latest major Whitehall computer project to run into difficulties.”

Full article here.

Today Peter Johnson reported in the Shropshire Star that the MoD are getting cold feet over the proposed hand over of Defence Training to the private sector:

PROPOSALS TO hand over defence training to a private sector consortium, which would se the loss of 800 jobs at RAF Cosford, are hanging in the balance, a union leader said today.

He claimed the Ministry of Defence was getting cold feet about the project and warned youngsters could end up fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan ill-prepared for the realities of war if the scheme went ahead

The controversy is over the national defence training review which could see aremed services training taken over by a consortium called Metrix in a contract worth about £11 billion.

But Robert “H” O’Harney, Cosford spokesman for the Public & Commercial Services Union (PCS), said today: “From what we are hearing it is all hanging in the balance.

Leaked documents form a recent meeting of the defence training review executive board whow they are worried about potentially catastrophic risks on the frontline.

And he claimed savings of £3 billion over 25 years are now revealed as £400 million over 30 years, insignificant in terms of the overall defence budget.

The full article can be viewed here.

Private eye report on the latest concerns regarding the Defence Training Review (DTR). The article reveals that documents produced following a meeting of the “defence training review executive board” show that there is a potential risk to the front line.

Documents produced following a recent meeting of the “defence training review executive board” reveal that the project, under which training will be handed to the Metrix consortium through a 30-year PFI contract worth around £11bn, poses catastrophic risks on the front line. A confidential “post meeting read out” of deliberations led by deputy chief of defence staff (personnel) Vice Admiral Peter Wilkinson exposes “major affordability issues” requiring a “realistic contingency plan” for the deal to privatise training on everything from tanks to fighter jets. Hinting at serious difficulties on the deal, the “affordability gap” could not be disclosed even to the project board as it was “too sensitive”.

The article goes on to explain that there was a list of 15 significant risks to the project. One of these being “Trained output fails to meet requirement of operational commands”. Another risk to the project is the loss of the existing trainers who are unwilling or unable to move to the new defence academy in St Athan.

Click on the image below to view the full article:

The following article was written by Greg Lewis and appeared in The Big Issue.

Who will be training their soldiers at the new Defence Training Academy at St Athan?
It’s a question that’s been exercising campaigners who feel the development is not just pledging Wales to a future of “militarism”, but wondering to whose military we are making that pledge.
I mean, we are never going to stop people killing other people. But does it look like we even want to?
Especially if private security companies – like the ones fighting wars for ‘us’ by proxy in Iraq – will be getting trained there.
I contacted the Ministry of Defence under the Freedom of Information Act to ask if, for instance, the MoD would ban any particular nations from using the training camp.
And what about private security companies – would they be able to send personnel there?
After a short delay I received an email from Brigadier Geoff Nield, a project leader with the Defence Training Review.
Under this privatised scheme, it seems, the first decision on who comes in from the outside for training is down to the Metrix Consortium – a group of arms/defence companies and educational establishments like the Open University.
“The MoD is content that Metrix may deliver training and accommodation services to third parties as long as certain contractual conditions and restraints are met,” said Brigadier Nield.
“These include, for example, not impairing the delivery of military training to the MoD, meeting security requirements and maintaining military ethos on-site.
“Furthermore, MoD reserves the right to approve or forbid the use of training assets (including facilities) for third parties.”
So, could a regime like Burma for instance, on paying the right fees, get its soldiers trained here? After all, Britain kindly sold more than 40 Hawk aircraft to the Indonesians during the 1980s and 1990s before world attention suggested that helping the country suppress the East Timorese did not make Britain either great or a land of much hope and glory.
“The MoD…prioritises those countries that receive training on a case by case basis. Where there is a mutual agreement between the UK and countries of interest, agreed scheduled training courses can be attended by those invited, subject to availability and appropriate security clearance.”
There is, some might say, an Orwellian feel to the response. The MoD insists on calling the centre a “college” and the non-UK attendees, “students”.
In addition, the MoD also states that the training of private contractors and foreign armies is actually about making a stable world for our children’s children.
“A key tenet of UK foreign policy is to encourage diplomatic engagement with foreign countries so as to not only serve UK interests but also develop long term stability throughout regions of the world,” said the brigadier. “The MoD supports this policy in different guises, one of which is to train foreign students, both in UK and abroad as arranged through overseas embassies and high commissions.”
War is peace, then, after all.

::The Big Issue Cymru, June 16-22, 2008

The Friday edition of the Shropshire Star reported:

Wrekin MP Mark Pritchard has urged ministers in Parliament to give reassurances about the future of the Donnington Army repair base in Telford.

The Tory MP paid tribute in the House of Commons yesterday to all the members of staff who worked at the Army Base Repair organisation and also to the now rebranded Defence Logistics Organisation.

The Conservative MP called for an assurancee that ABRO had a long-term future in the wake of the question mark put over the base more than a year ago.

The full article can be viewed here.

PCS are supporting a demonstration for Democracy, Rights and Freedom in Zimbabwe. The demonstration is taking part in London on 23rd June outside the Zimbabwe Embassy.

On 23 June Lovemore Matombo, President of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) and Wellington Chibebe, General Secretary of ZCTU are due in court to face charges of spreading falsehoods prejudicial to the state.

As part of their bail conditions they are not allowed to address political or public gatherings. These charges and bail conditions are clear breaches of free speech and freedom to associate.

Further information on the campaign including some imediate action you can take without even leaving your home can be found here.

A meeting will be held at the War Memorial Hall in Wrexham, on Saturday June 7th, starting at 2.30pm

A public meeting with the main speaker being Ana Lucia Pinzon, a trade union leader from Columbia. Ana is in the UK on a speaker tour orgainised by the Justice For Columbia Group.

Ana Lucia Pinzon is the leader of the Colombian public sector workers’ trade union FENALTRASE. She is the most senior female trade unionist in Colombia and has been at the forefront of anti-privatisation struggles for thirty years. FENALTRASE is the third largest union in Colombia and has had numerous of its members assassinated in recent years.

An economist by training, Ms Pinzon worked as an auditor before becoming a full time union officer. As well as her union work she is also active in human rights campaigns. In 2001 she was the victim of an assassination attempt during which she was shot twice in the back.

Chair - Trish Bowen, Regional President SLP Wales.

Additional Speakers:

Wrexham Trades Council - Steve Ryan

Wrexham Peace And Justice Forum and Wrexham Women For Peace - Genny Bove (wpjf) Socialist Labour Party Wales - Liz Screen

The Wrekin Labour Party are celebrating the 90th Birthday of Nelson Mandela, all trade union members are invited to attend.  Click on photo to download the full sized flyer.