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DeliciousMajor contracts to be reviewed
Wednesday, June 02, 2010Around twenty of the Ministry of Defence's recent major procurement projects are to be reviewed as part of the coalition government's drive for savings, it has emerged.
The programmes, cumulatively worth around £10bn, are being re-examined as part of plans announced by the Treasury to look at all major procurement projects initiated by the previous government. The review of projects is said to be separate to the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR).
Recent major procurements that may be up for review include the £6bn Search and Rescue contract with the Soteria Consortium, due to be finalised this year. In opposition, Defence Secretary Liam Fox had asked the government to put off signing the 25-year contract until after the general election.
Also up for review could be the contract to build the Future Rapid Effects System, awarded to General Dynamics, and the purchase of 22 extra Chinooks in December 2009 as part of a restructuring package to prioritise the war in Afghanistan.
Other savings measures available outside the SDSR include outsourcing, and in November 2009 the Defence Support Review was said to recommend an increase in the use of outsourcing by the MoD, with an estimate of £2.9bn in savings possible over the next ten years. A review of the MoD's acquisition process by Bernard Gray also favoured a rise in outsourcing to make savings.
A recent poll of industry figures published in the Financial Times suggested that outsourced services could include Defence Estates, the Royal Fleet Auxiliary, the Defence Storage and Distribution Agency, the Defence Support Group and Tri-Service Whole Fleet Management and the MoD police.
HAVE YOUR SAY
The first ten Chinooks should stay. The second batch should be replaced by 18 folding CSAR Merlins for the Royal Navy. That way the RAF can keep their non folding transport Merlins.Giving the RAF non folding Merlins to the RN was one of the last governments crazy ideas.
The A330 RAF tanker PFI should be examined to see if outright purchase is cheaper.
Rivet Joint might be better on a Boeing 767-200ER secondhand with cargo door airframe. 45 year old B707/RC-135 airframes could be hard to maintain.
Ascod might be a good FRES, apart from the weight. 42 tons fully armoured! With only 7 C-17s, how do we get enough numbers to the battlefront quickly? Something lighter that can be carried by a A400M would make more sense.
John Hartley - Woking/Surrey/UK
To even think of outsourcing the 'Royal Fleet Auxiliary' would be an absolute travesty.
This service has performed absolutely sterling service since its inception during the early part of the last century.
Perhaps like the RN it is a victim of being a member of the 'silent service', it has fought alongside the RN in every conflict since it was formed and no other country on earth has such a professional group of people backing up its armed forces.
They are on hand any time the RN and increasingly the other members of the armed forces call upon them,and carry out their duties without most of the British public even knowing of their existance.
I would like to hear what the RN would think on this service without which they could not carry out their duties being privatised.
I find it quite unbelievable that at the same time as the current PFI contract for RAF tankers is under direct scrutiny over costs,that this should even be given any thought whatsoever.
mike - notts
Scaremongering. RFA and Mod Plods privatised? No chance. RFA go into warzones, carry out RAS during possibly sensitive operations, carry weapons, no way would they be taken over by serco, bae or whoever and crewed by philipinos.
MoD police guard some of our most sensitive sites, Coulport as an example. No chance of privatisation there.
I can see parts of DSDA going, with the exception of the Defence Munitions Grouping within for obvious reasons. Defence Estates too possibly.
Daniele Mandelli - Guildford