31/12/2008

DTR on edge of collapse

is the WAG listening or just ignoring what is going on in the real world - wake up - this St Athan project is doomed!!

UK's Defence Training Review is nearing collapse, warns MP

By Gerrard Cowan Jane’s Defence weekly

31 December 2008

The UK's GBP12 billion (USD18 billion) Defence Training Review (DTR) is on the verge of collapse due to a "triple whammy of rising costs, time delays and national security concerns", Mark Pritchard MP has told Jane's.

The secretary of the Conservative Defence Committee was speaking on 30 December after the National Audit Office (NAO) confirmed media reports that it is considering opening an investigation into the QinetiQ-led project, which is the largest private finance initiative in British history.

In a letter to Pritchard, Tim Burr, NAO head, said: "We will continue to monitor the [defence] department's progress to see whether and when the time might be right to start a full value-for-money investigation."

Pritchard said that the DTR is "a privatisation too far". He said a key driver of rising costs - which went from GBP11 billion to GBP12 billion - and increasing delays was the need to build an infrastructure, including transport links, at RAF St Athan in Wales, which is where the project is based.

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AUDIT OFFICE TO INVESTIGATE ST ATHAN

If you go to the Daily Mail site you can add comment.

NAO hovering over QinetiQ's £12bn defence contract By Karl West Daily Mail

Last updated at 11:54 PM on 29th December 2008

The National Audit Office has QinetiQ in its sights once again.

The Whitehall spending watchdog is considering launching an investigation into a £12billion defence training contract won by the controversial outsourcing group.

It would be the second time QinetiQ, a former government defence research laboratory, has been at the centre of a probe by the NAO, following a damning report in November 2007 into the firm's flotation.

Investigation: The National Audit Office may look more closely into QinetiQ's recent activities

The troubled contract to train Britain's armed forces, which has seen costs spiral from £11billion to £12billion, has not even started but the government has already spent £34.6million of taxpayers' money on the deal.

Mark Pritchard, Tory MP for The Wrekin in Shropshire, has written to the NAO urging it to look into the defence training review programme.

NAO boss Tim Burr told Pritchard in one letter: 'We will continue to monitor the (defence) department's progress to see whether and when the time might be right to start a full value for money investigation.'

People in Wales call for an end to the bombing of Gaza

CND Cymru press release 30th December 2008

press office: t: 0845 313 8 414 m: 07704 67 57 87

People in Wales call for an end to the bombing of Gaza

A new year's eve vigil will take place at the Nye Bevan statue, Queen St,
Cardiff between 5-6pm tomorrow (31st December) in response to the
persecution and bombing of defenceless civilians in Gaza.

It is of particular significance to us in Wales that many of these attacks
on Gaza are being carried out with fighter jets, fuel and missiles provided
by the taxpayers of the USA. In 2006, the United States signed a $1.3
billion contract with the arms manufacturer Raytheon for thousands of TOW,
Hellfire, and 'bunker buster' missiles, to add to Israel's ever growing
arsenal - which already includes at least 200 nuclear warheads1. Raytheon is
a major player in the Metrix Consortium which has won the contract to build
a multi billion pound privatised MoD 'Defence Academy' in the Vale of
Glamorgan 2.

CND Cymru Vice Chair Ray Davies said today:
'While we in Wales relaxed and enjoyed a peaceful Christmas, death and
destruction rained down on the men, women and children of Gaza.'

'Our televisions showed us the painful images of screaming children,
hysterical mothers, the injured grasping their Korans as they were carried
to the Gaza Al Awda Hospital which Welsh charitable money helped to build.'

'The charity Middle East Childrens' Alliance emailed us in Wales to say that
following the attacks they had no medicine, blood plasma, or beds and they
were, unable to cope with the hundreds of casualties and the dying being
brought to their doors.'

'As mealy mouthed politicians around the world come out with their pathetic
well balanced condemnation of the violence on both sides, people ask, 'just
what can we do?''

Jill Gough CND Cymru National Secretary commented:
'Should the St Athan 'Defence Academy' go ahead, Wales would be playing a
central role in training military forces to bomb civilians in their homes
using Raytheon (and other manufacturers') weapons.'

'At the end of all this, there will have to be talking and negotiation, why
not cut out the senseless bullying, destruction, suffering and waste of life
- which is exacerbating both the short and the long term situation, and just
start the talking right now.'

'The only beneficiaries of military violence are the arms manufacturers and
their shareholders.'

Tomorrow's vigil may be a small expression of solidarity given the terrible
suffering being wrought on the ordinary people of the region, but this is
only part of a largely unreported worldwide protest being voiced around the
World 3.

Vigil organisers CND Cymru and Palestine Solidarity Cymru are asking people
to channel their anger to try and change the never ending cycle of death and
destruction, and bring justice to both sides and to put pressure on our
government and the United Nations to take firm action to end the violence
and the occupation.

ENDS
Interviews/More information:
Ray Davies/Wendy Lewis t: 02920 889 514 m: 07845982238 e:
wendya.lewis@talktalk.net
Notes:
1.
www.corpwatch.org/article.php?id=13944
2.
www.cynefinywerin.org.uk/index.php?docid=142
3. Reference/link to other protests around Britain:
www.palestinecampaign.org

28/12/2008

business as usual for academy - Oh no its not!

‘It’s business as usual’ for the academy Oh no its not! What a panto!


Peter Collins article ‘It’s business as usual’ for the academy is so misleading and unbalanced - Metrix talk of partnerships with WAG who seem to be happy to continue with this unfeasible fantasy which is unpopular with the military top brass and even more unpopular with PCS the union representing the skilled workforce involved. How can boss Barrington from Metrix claim that privatised training is more efficient or cost effective when they are cutting courses by 25% jeopardising effectiveness or in plain English - putting our soldiers at risk-as a desperate measure to reduce costs already £2 BILLION over budget. Rumour is that Qinetiq and Raytheon don't seem to see eye to eye which doesn't bode well for training delivery. Qinetiq shares have dropped because of the likelihood of a collapse of the (DTR) St Athan project. We must not forget there have been protests worldwide against Raytheon weapon suppliers, there is a massive protest now in Bristol however it is very likely that permanent protest will be coming to St Athan with Raytheon.


Write to Wales online ecletters@mediawales.co.uk and Peter Collins

peter.collins@mediawales.co.uk


write to us no2militaryacademy@inbox.com


23/12/2008

beleaguered PFI - DTR -

A privatisation too far!
from Private Eye

Land Securities was to convert a "super-hangar" at St Athan, South Wales, into a huge new defence academy for around £1bn, but it seems the credit crunch has put paid to it raising that kind of cash. Whether another property company - most of them struggling to raise money - steps forward looks uncertain. The problem with the private finance initiative is that although the profits are great, they come over a long period and not many firms are in the mood for splashing out and waiting for their cash. If the Ministry of Defence can't persuade another company in, the whole scheme could collapse.

Meanwhile the list of compromises on quality that will be made if the deal does go ahead lengthens by the week.

Tory MP for the Wrekin Mark Pritchard, whose constituency will lose out when aeronautical training moves from RAF Cosford to St Athan and who has described the scheme as "a privatisation too far", recently raised a host of concerns with the National Audit Office.

Cherie's Place: Private Eye Reports on Land Trillium Departure
By CherryPie
They will understandably want to make a profit but why should Welsh taxpayers subsidise private organisations? The full article entitled 'Why Subsidise Private Profit' can be found here. More information on DTR from a Shropshire ...


FOI questions and answers on costs

REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)

A. Your e-mailed Request For Information received on 22 November 2008.
Thank you for your enquiry at Reference A, in which you asked seven questions relating to the cost and savings of the Defence Training Review Programme (Package 1), and the staff delivering the training. I will answer each one in the order presented.

1. Can the Department clarify when it was assessed that the cost had risen to £12billion? What were the significant cost growth in the programme identified by Metrix in March 2008.
An initial Clarify and Confirm phase, (carried out between November 2007 and March 2008) sought from Metrix confirmation of their Package 1 solution. The outcome from this activity was a formal submission from Metrix on 7 March 2008. On receipt of this submission it was assessed that the potential cost of DTR Package 1 had risen by approximately £1bn to £12bn. The significant cost growth identified was predominantly due to delay in the Programme. This figure represents inflation pressures, changes in build assumptions and financing costs and has been the subject of significant further constructive work between the IPT and Metrix to drive out costs.

2. When was this information passed to the Minister for the Armed Forces and when was it passed to the Welsh Assembly Government?
I assume that you refer to the rise in Metrix costs above. If this is the case then Minister (Armed Forces) office was advised of this development on 14 April 2008. The information that cost growth had taken place was not formally passed to the Welsh Assembly Government, however, I believe, they were made aware of this on 3 July 2008.

3. Copies of any documentation, email etc in relation to the increase in cost by £1billion sent by the DTR IPT to Welsh Assembly or Minister.
The rise in costs submitted on 7 March was a matter for the Department and Metrix as it formed part of their confidential bid submission. Therefore, no correspondence has taken place between the DTR IPT and members of the Welsh Assembly in relation to this cost increase.

4. In a letter from Tim Burr, with reference to key staff delivering training programmes, he states "the Department monitors these gaps on a monthly basis". Can you provide copy of these monthly stats for the previous 12 months?
Vacancies across the civilian instructional officer grades are formally monitored on a quarterly basis (an additional return was also reported in July). Please see Annex A for details of the vacancies by college since January 2008.

5. How many military personnel are currently filling civilian posts in Package 1 sites?
Only the Royal School of Signals (RSS) at Blandford currently has military personnel filling civilian posts – they have 9 additional JNCO Systems Engineering Technicians to help deliver instruction. These military personnel would not be required if the RSS was fully manned with civilian instructors.

6. What are the current broad projection of the through life (30 years) savings of the DTR Package 1 project?
As you are already aware, the Department is currently engaged in a Final Clarification and Confirm exercise to update various aspects of the Metrix Package 1 proposals. Metrix’ revised proposals were received on 18 November and are now being evaluated. Until this evaluation is fully completed and reports submitted to the Programme governance Board, I am not in a position at this time to be able to give you the projections you seek.

7. What is the difference between the current rates of pay of Specialist Instructional Officers and "commercial rates of pay for professionally qualified training staff"? Do the Department when making such statements not recognise the current Specialist Instructional Officers as "professionally qualified training staff"?
The current rates of pay of Specialist Instructional Officers are aligned to those of the broader banded structure within MOD and these rates of pay are already in the public domain. The concept of “commercial rates of pay for professionally qualified training staff” is a proposal by Metrix rather than MOD. The Metrix proposal, with underlying rationale, is described in the TU Information Document at Appendix 7 paragraphs 2.4 and 2.5 (ITN 7.4.7.2) to which we understand you have access.

If you are unhappy with this response or you wish to complain about any aspect of the handling of your request, then you should contact me in the first instance. If informal resolution is not possible and you are still dissatisfied then you may apply for an independent internal review by contacting the Director of Information Exploitation, 6th Floor, MOD Main Building, Whitehall, SW1A 2HB (e-mail Info-XD@mod.uk). Please note that any request for an internal review must be made within two calendar months of the date on which the attempt to reach informal resolution has come to an end.
If you remain unhappy following an internal review, you may take your complaint to the Information Commissioner under the provisions of Section 50 of the Freedom of Information Act. Please note that the Information Commissioner will not investigate the case until the internal review process has been completed. Further details of the role and powers of the Information Commissioner can be found on the Commissioner’s website, http://www.informationcommissioner.gov.uk.

Yours sincerely,
G A NIELD Brigadier DTR Integrated Project Team Leader

Another wheel comes off the DTR wagon

PCS briefing


Another wheel comes off the DTR wagon. Land Securities Trillium announce their exit from the METRiX consortium

Introduction

Things seem to be going from bad to worse for the DTR programme. Firstly, there was the withdrawal of preferred bidder status from METRiX for package 2, then there was the credit crunch that saw increasing costs to the tune of at least £1 billion, then the fall in land prices the sale of which the project is predicated upon, then a further shift to the right in terms of the date of contract signature, and now one of the main companies in METRiX- Land Securities Trillium has announced its withdrawal from the programme.

Land Securities Bail Out

On the 11th December the Financial Times carried an article that announced Land Securities Trillium was withdrawing from DTR package 1. Portsmouth South MP, Mike Hancock who sits on the Defence Select Committee said, “With Land Securities pulling out this must seriously damage the entire project. It was never financially viable.”

LST was one of the main pillars in the METRiX consortium responsible for the build programme. After putting £20 million into the project and seeing its potential profits being continually squeezed they announced they were withdrawing “in the light of the significantly increased bid costs, carried at risk by the bidders, required as the project moves into detailed design work.” Charles Barrington, METRiX CEO, tried to put a brave face on the catastrophic announcement claiming that Land Securities departure was for “strategic reasons.” He confidently maintained that METRIX would find a new building partner “within the month.” PCS therefore expects an announcement by Barrington by the 12th January in regards to the new company joining METRiX. However, PCS will not be holding its breathe…

Who Knew?

The first that PCS heard of the Land Securities withdrawal from METRiX was an article in the Financial Times! Indeed, this was the case for Members of Parliament too. Mark Pritchard, MP for the Wrekin, and staunch supporter of the PCS campaign, asked this very question in the House of Commons. He still awaits a reply.

PCS will be complaining about this failure by the MoD to advise the Trade Unions.

Relations between the Trade Unions and the Package 1 IPT have hit a new low because the Team Leader seems to be frustrated that PCS is exploiting possible leaks within his team and is using the Freedom of Information Act to make the MoD reveal information they'd rather not share at all. This is bad enough, but talking to the press appears to be the final straw.

The IPT Team Leader appears bemused by our long running campaign and wishes PCS would simply stop its work of defending public sector jobs and engage constructively with privatisation.

Qinetiq feels the shockwaves from Land Securities withdrawal

The Guardian reported on 19th December that Qinetiq has weakened after a sell note from UBS.

UBS said "In our view, QinetiQ is trading at a full valuation, yet we believe its outlook is clouded by a number of significant downside risks. We believe it will be very difficult for QinetiQ shares to re-rate until these concerns are addressed. We also believe consensus views on valuation and earnings are at risk of turning more negative."

In particular UBS is concerned about the recent departure of Clive Richardson, the head of the Europe, Middle East and Africa region; the withdrawal of Land Securities' Trillium division from a consortium including Qinetiq bidding for a £12bn MoD contract, as well as growing UK defence budget pressures.

The report concluded:

"We are lowering our price target primarily driven by the removal of the value we ascribed to the MoD's Defence Training Rationalisation contract following Trillium's withdrawal from the joint venture bid. We believe the risk
relating to the DTR contract is now too high to warrant a more positive stance."

St Athan- The Home of the Defence Training Academy, Can't Recruit IO's – You Couldn't Make This Up!

PCS has long maintained that IO's will not transfer across the country to St Athan, as a survey of members has borne out. The MoD whilst accepting this as its number 1 risk, bullishly maintained that its risk mitigation plan took this into account.

However, the military at St Athan have now been forced to admit that they cannot recruit and retain IO's at the site and have submitted a business case for Recruitment and Retention Allowance.

There are 63 band D IOs within the scope of No4 School of Technical Training (No 4 SOTT) which is a part of DCEME. There are currently 17 gapped posts (i.e. 28%) within the Training Operations Group.

In addition 8 IOs have left No 4 SOTT in the last 12 months- their reasons are:

  • Wishing to remain Civil Servants and not wanting to work for a METRiX company.
  • The Civil Service salary is uncompetitive.
  • Promotion within the Civil Service,

The Business plan notes:

“Even the fact the MOD St Athan has been chosen as the preferred site for DTR has had no significant positive impact on the ability to retain staff. Instead, recent departures have merely exacerbated the situation as remaining (civilian and military) are required to undertake additional work and thus they become disillusioned. It is anticipated that increased stress (and associated absence) and staff resignations are likely to increase as a direct consequence.”

Finally the business case warns that “morale of many of the civilian staff at No 4 SOTT is at a crucial juncture.”

It is a harbinger of the future disaster of DTR if MoD does not heed the advice of PCS and the evidence waived under its nose- Risk Mitigation Plan or not.

Geoff Nield Quits DTR Package 1 as End Date Moves Over the Horizon

At the last DTR IPT meeting with the Trade Unions Geoff Nield announced he will be leaving post by March 2009. Nield has pushed the project hard and is obviously frustrated at the slowness of progress being made and the intransigence of PCS in particular. With no end in sight, despite the propaganda contained in the IPT’s newsletter, Nield has decided to call it a day and move onto pastures new.

He will be replaced by Anthony Harkin who has been delivering the RSME privatisation at Chatham.

Tim Inshaw Visits IO Conference and Tells PCS How to Campaign

In November Major General Tim Inshaw, DTR Programme Director, attended the IO conference and spoke to delegates about DTR. Inshaw was forthright in his defence of the programme but admitted that if IOs didn’t transfer to the Defence Training Academy that it would be a disaster for military training. Clearly, by inference at least, he does not believe this is a real possibility.

In addressing conference delegates, Inshaw suggested that PCS’ campaign strategy is flawed. He was happy that PCS should tell the politicians and public that DTR was bad for Civil Servants personally, but he urged PCS not to insist that DTR is bad for defence. Inshaw advised conference that all the military top brass agreed that DTR was good for defence. However, when challenged on the ability of METRiX to deliver the contract without the existing IO cadre, he looked decidedly uneasy.

Tim Inshaw Denies PCS Request for Information on Risk Mitigation Plans

Inshaw was asked to make available to PCS the Risk Mitigation Plans for package 1. However, in a letter dated 25th November the General said, “I regret it is not possible to afford this opportunity at this stage of the Project…all change programmes have some risk attached to them…we have taken note of the views of SIOs and we have a comprehensive approach to managing these risks.”

This response is disappointing and PCS will now use the Freedom of Information Act to try to uncover the information MoD is so desperate to hide.

Qinetiq and Raytheon, Don't Seem to See Eye to Eye

There is always lots of chatter on projects such as DTR. Some of it turns out to be extremely prescient, other “information” just hearsay. However, it has been reported to PCS that all is not well between Qinetiq and Raytheon. There appears to be bad feeling between the two companies, with Raytheon believing its been marginalised by its partner. This does not seem to bode well for the future of the project where close working and harmony between training delivery and training support/course design is essential.

Some personnel working on DTR are impressed with Raytheon’s course design software, but not a lot else. They have posed the question why MoD can’t just buy under license this software without going down the privatisation route?

Does DTR Breach The Cabinet Office Protocols On Staff Being Transferred Into a Redundancy Situation?

PCS is currently liaising with its specialists in this field to ascertain whether DTR does indeed fall foul of the agreements on staff being TUPE’d into a redundancy situation.

PCS will communicate the outcome once it is known.

Conclusion

PCS continues to oppose DTR step by step. PCS will continue to campaign with you and for you. The New Year will herald the second anniversary of the preferred bidder for DTR. PCS will be planning to take part in a meeting to be held in the Welsh Assembly.

Why susidise private profit asks Chris Franks AM

Chris Franks AM Plaid Cymru writes in the local paper

Why subsidise private profit?

PLANS for a new road to Cardiff International Airport are currently being
considered.
The reaction to my comments questioning whether any of the three possible
routes was suitable was interesting.
Neither Labour MPs nor Tory AMs are prepared to state which of the three
possible routes they support. Hardly a ringing endorsement but they all want
to spend £100m plus on the road.
However, we all know the operators of the airport are not complaining about
road access.
It has been suggested that the road would be to serve the St Athan training
academy.
Personally, I think it would be an outrage to spend such huge amounts of
Welsh public money on feather- bedding the training academy project.
This is a scheme of the UK government and will be provided by a consortium
of private companies. It will cost £12bn.
They will understandably want to make a profit but why should Welsh
taxpayers subsidise private organisations?
If a builder wants to develop a housing scheme the company must pay for the
necessary highway improvements.
So why should we divert cash from hospitals and schools to boost the balance
sheets of multi-national companies involved in St Athan?
The vague idea that any road is good to deal with the current economic
crisis is nonsense. None of the routes are designed and no land has been purchased.
All this will take a significant length of time.

Chris Franks AM Plaid Cymru

Investors' Chronicle Case weakens for defence 23 December 2008
Written by: Julian Hofmann
The year has been less of a rollercoaster for defence and aerospace
companies relative to classic cyclical sectors. However, the received wisdom
that dictated that defence companies would be the stock market's big winners
in an economic downturn has been turned on its head as industry observers
worry about the rapidly changing nature of defence budgets in the US and the
UK. Different companies in the sector have tackled this problem in different
ways.

The main problem for UK-based aerospace and defence companies is that the
boom in defence spending, driven by extra appropriations to pay for the Iraq
and Afghan wars, is coming to a close as tight budget conditions and a
winding down of those sorry conflicts starts to bite into budgets.
Meanwhile, most analysts predict that the US defence spending will start to
come under pressure from 2010 onwards when the new budget is set.
UK defence is also under severe pressure as the Ministry of Defence seeks to
plug a yawning £2bn deficit. Already it has delayed the introduction of the
Navy's new £4bn super-aircraft carriers, which are due to replace the
Invincible class, by two years and there may be more cuts to come as the
economic environment worsens.
The three strands of the defence sector are facing up to these challenges in
different ways.
The service provider QinetiQ is a newcomer to the defence club and the former government-owned defence research agency has a business model which provides both contract
services to governments, running payrolls and pension schemes, as well as
advanced research and development work. It differs in this respect from its
sector peers, which are more manufacturing-based.
QinetiQ piled debt on to its balance sheet to build up an American presence from
scratch. This generated double digit-growth last year at the cost of it being the
most indebted of all British defence companies
with more that two times net debt to earnings before interest, tax,
depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda).

Analysts say the company is too reliant on one large UK contract to manage
weapons ranges and that the 10 per cent margin it achieves is relatively low
for the sector.

A further problem for QinetiQ is the uncertain future of the
Defence Training Review (DTR) private finance initiative (PFI) project, a
contract to centralise the army's training facilities in St Athan in Wales.
Land Securities has already pulled out of the Metrix consortium, of which
QinetiQ is part, while the company acknowledges that DTR is the single
biggest opportunity in its managed services division and is worth some £5bn
over time. Strains on the UK defence budget may put the scheme on the
back-burner, especially as some reports suggest it is unpopular with the
military's top brass..........

20/12/2008

risk to DTR contract too high

Qinetiq falls on concerns about defence outlook
guardian.co.uk - UK
We believe the risk relating to the DTR contract is now too high to warrant a more positive stance." The fall in Qinetiq has contributed to a 101.1 point ...

Qinetiq falls on concerns about defence outlook

Qinetiq, the defence technology company originally spun out of the Ministry of Defence, has weakened after a sell note from UBS.

Its shares are down 9.75p at 152.5p as UBS downgraded from neutral, and cut its price target from 175p to 155p. Analyst Avi Hoddes said:

"In our view, QinetiQ is trading at a full valuation, yet we believe its outlook is clouded by a number of significant downside risks. We believe it will be very difficult for QinetiQ shares to re-rate until these concerns are addressed. We also believe consensus views on valuation and earnings are at risk of turning more negative."

In particular UBS is concerned about the recent departure of Clive Richardson, the head of the Europe, Middle East and Africa region; the withdrawal of Land Securities' Trillium division from a consortium including Qinetiq bidding for a £12bn MoD contract, as well as growing UK defence budget pressures.

Other possible probems cited by UBS include:

"The risky and lower-quality drivers of EMEA profit growth; the profit headwind once Iraq/Afghanistan winds down and other US budget uncertainties; weaker margin guidance; and) profit and valuation volatility caused by QinetiQ's pension deficit."

It concluded:

"We are lowering our price target primarily driven by the removal of the value we ascribed to the MoD's Defence Training Rationalisation contract following Trillium's withdrawal from the joint venture bid. We believe the risk
relating to the DTR contract is now too high to warrant a more positive stance."

The fall in Qinetiq has contributed to a 101.1 point decline in the FTSE 250 to 6290.47. Meanwhile the FTSE 100 is now down 72.42 points at 4258.24, with the miners leading the fallers. Given the falls in the oil price despite Opec's production cuts and the continuing uncertainty over the fate of the US carmakers, not to mention the global recession, today's falls are not exactly a surprise. The Dow futures are suggesting a 68 point opening decline, as investors await news of any car industry bail out.

Land Secs retreats from £1billion MoD defence academy PFI
Your Defence News (press release), UK - Dec 18, 2008
Land Securities Trillium (LST) has pulled out of a PFI deal to deliver the MoD’s £1bn Defence Technical Academy, after raising concerns about rising costs ...



18/12/2008

Bristol Raytheon rooftop protest enters its second week

 LATEST Raytheon protests! Raytheon is one of the METRIX Consortium 

SMASH RAYTHEON
- link

Raytheon rooftop protest enters its second week

http://www.corporatewatch.org/?lid=3188

An occupation of the roof of the Raytheon offices in Bristol has

reached its second week despite sub-zero temperatures. The direct

action began in protest at Raytheon's supply of weapons used in Iraq,

Afghanistan and Palestine. Anti-militarist activists have been

targeting Raytheon since October and have formed the Smash Raytheon

campaign.

Diary http://www.corporatewatch.org/?lid=3189

Saturday, 20 December 2008: Solidarity demonstration for the ongoing

Raytheon rooftop protest in Bristol. Anti-militarist protestors have

been on the roof of Raytheon since the 9th of December and don't

intend to leave "till Raytheon leave or they starve." For more

details, see http://raytheonout.wordpress.com.

16/12/2008

Declare this project dead


Article from Shropshire Star yesterday
quote in there from Mark Pritchard MP

“Government ministers need to come clean and declare this project dead”

Shropshire Star Article

NEWS reaches Portmouth!


Hopes rise that Sultan will get a stay of execution

Published Date: 15 December 2008 By Matt Jackson Defence correspondent

HOPES are rising that the under-threat HMS Sultan in Gosport could be offered a stay of execution.

Last year ministers announced the engineering school would be shut by 2017 with all training moving to St Athan, Wales. But now unions think 170 jobs in the area could be saved after a company in the project pulled out of the deal.

Land Securities Trillium, which has already invested more than £20m in the scheme, said the prospect of cost increases was the reason for it withdrawing from the £11bn scheme.

Geoff Lange, an instructor at
HMS Collingwood and Portsmouth South branch secretary for the Public and Commercial Services Union, said: 'With Land Securities pulling out the development part of this plan has to be called into question.

'Workers could see the silver lining of this bec
ause it means the project planning will drag on, but I see it as confusing and worrying for them.

'They have wasted lots of public money on consultants and we need clarity about what is supposed to be happening.'

In July, The News reported tha
t a leaked e-mail had revealed the project could be delayed for up to eight years. Metrix, the consortium behind the new training centre in St Athan, was said to be considering keeping Sultan open until 2025. If this falls through, the Ministry of Defence could be forced to retain training sites across Hampshire including Sultan, which is home to the Royal Naval Air Engineering and Survival School.

Portsmouth South MP Mike Hancock, who sits on the Defence Select Committee, said: 'With Land Securities pulling out this must seriously damage the entire project.

'It was never financially viable and this is great news for sites in our area. I would expect to see Sultan open for a good time to come.'

An MoD spokeswoman said there was 'no question whatsoever' about the future of the project, but added that nothing had been decided as to when Sultan would close.

She said: 'Changes in the consortium structure in a project of this scale are not unusual.

'Land Securities Trillium's withdrawal is a consequence of adjustment to their parent company's strategic priorities as a result of the current economic circumstances.

'The MOD, Metrix and QinetiQ are committed to delivering the project at St Athan, considerable progress has been made and the main project milestones remain in place.'

Metrix spokesman Christopher Moseley said: 'We are working very closely with the Ministry of Defence to deliver this on time.'


News reaches manchester too! Eco home plan bust too!

Just 1700 homes for Deepcut site?
Get Surrey - Manchester
Deepcut was one of the casualties of the MoD’s Defence Training Review, which aims to close and relocate several Armed Forces bases in the South East. ..

And Mark Pritchard has demanded a statement from the Ministry of Defence regarding the decision by Land Securities Trillium to withdraw from the Metrix consortium, the lead bidder for the Defence Training Review (DTR). A spokesman on behalf of Trillium stated that the company had invested a considerable amount of money on the project, but due to the significantly increased bid costs which were carried at risk by the bidders they would now have to withdraw.

11 December 2008 : Parliamentary Debate
Defence Training Review
Mark Pritchard (The Wrekin) (Con): On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. The defence training review is the largest private finance initiative in British history, worth £11 billion-indeed, the costs have increased in the last six months to £12 billion. I seek your advice, Mr. Deputy Speaker, because in today’s Financial Times it was announced that Land Securities Trillium, one of the major backers of the defence training review package, has pulled out of the project altogether. This has major implications for the future training of our armed forces not only in the short term, but in the medium to long term. Is it not a disgrace that, yet again, the Government hav e chosen to leak this information to the Financial Times rather than bring it to the Floor of the House?
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Mr. Deputy Speaker: I can only repeat that Mr. Speaker considers it extremely important that all important matters on which this House should have a view should be brought before the House, but I am sure the hon. Gentleman will find ways to pursue these matters himself, and the points he has made are on the record.



13/12/2008

DTR Consortium Crashing

£12bn base ‘still on track’ who do you think you are kidding?
WalesOnline - United Kingdom
John Smith, in picture, MP for the Vale of Glamorgan, said: “The Defence Technical Academy at St Athan has not been knocked off course by this development. ...If Smith thinks he can turn the tide on this one he has lost it!......
A Land Securities spokesman said its Trillium arm was withdrawing "in the light of the significantly increased bid costs, carried at risk by the bidders, required as the project moves into detailed design work".


12/12/2008

Land Securities withdraws from Academy Consortium

The Financial Times reports on the latest setback for the Defence Training Review:

On Wednesday, Qinetiq told the government that Land Securities had withdrawn from the process. Land Securities has spent about £20m so far and is reluctant to keep funding the project in the face of significantly increased costs over the next 18 months.

Qinetiq, the defence research group that is the lead contractor on the programme, is already in talks with alternative partners, although the move comes at a difficult time for the property market. There may also be reluctance to take on additional short-term costs just as property and construction companies struggle with a sharp fall in asset values over the past year.

The news is the latest blow to the controversial programme. There have already been concerns about the viability of the 25-year project after it emerged costs had risen by nearly 10 per cent since the beginning of last year.

The consortium had also been forced abandon its original plan to raise up to £1bn through a bond issue because of the difficulties in the financial markets.

This latest news from DTR is revealing that as predicted by PCS the programme is busy unravelling. Our meeting with Minister for the Armed Forces was cancelled at the last minute yesterday, but has been re-arranged for next Tuesday. We have even more questions to ask him following this announcement below.

Contractor quits defence academy deal

By Daniel Thomas and Sylvia Pfeifer

Published: December 10 2008 22:46 | Last updated: December 10 2008 22:46

The £12bn plan to centralise the UK military's training programme has suffered another setback following the withdrawal of the property company Land Securities from the consortium picked to take forward the project at the beginning of last year.

The Defence Training Review (DTR), the UK's largest private finance initiative, will centralise all non-military technical training for army, navy and air force personnel in one academy at St Athan, Vale of Glamorgan.

The government awarded the contract to build and run the new defence academy to the Metrix consortium, a joint venture between Qinetiq and Land Securities' outsourcing arm, Trillium.

On Wednesday, Qinetiq told the government that Land Securities had withdrawn from the process. Land Securities has spent about £20m so far and is reluctant to keep funding the project in the face of significantly increased costs over the next 18 months.

Qinetiq, the defence research group that is the lead contractor on the programme, is already in talks with alternative partners, although the move comes at a difficult time for the property market. There may also be reluctance to take on additional short-term costs just as property and construction companies struggle with a sharp fall in asset values over the past year.

The news is the latest blow to the controversial programme. There have already been concerns about the viability of the 25-year project after it emerged costs had risen by nearly 10 per cent since the beginning of last year.

The consortium had also been forced abandon its original plan to raise up to £1bn through a bond issue because of the difficulties in the financial markets.

On Wednesday night, Charles Barrington, the chairman of Metrix, said the consortium and the Ministry of Defence had been able to cut costs. That had been achieved in part by reducing the number of courses that will be offered.

He added that changes in a consortium's structure were not unusual as "circumstances and priorities change".

"Land Securities Trillium has taken this decision for strategic reasons and not because the DTR proposition is flawed," he added.

A Land Securities spokesman said its Trillium arm was withdrawing "in the light of the significantly increased bid costs, carried at risk by the bidders, required20as the project moves into detailed design work".

The construction programme is valued at an estimated £1bn and will create 1500 jobs. Financial close on the deal is now expected in 2010.

Land Securities remains in talks to sell Trillium to a rival outsourcing company, Telereal, although the continuing discussions are not thought to have prompted its withdrawal from the training programme.

Trillium was providing land acquisition, management and development advice to the consortium.

Mark Pritchard (Wrekin, The, Conservative) Link to this | Hansard source | Video match this

On a point of order, Mr. Deputy Speaker. The defence training review is the largest private finance initiative in British history, worth £11 billion—indeed, the costs have increased in the last six months to £12 billion. I seek your advice, Mr. Deputy Speaker, because in today's Financial Times it was announced that Land Securities Trillium, one of the major backers of the defence training review package, has pulled out of the project altogether. This has major implications for the future training of our armed forces not only in the short term, but in the medium to long term. Is it not a disgrace that, yet again, the Government have chosen to leak this information to the Financial Times rather than bring it to the Floor of the House?

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Photo of Michael LordMichael Lord (Deputy Speaker) Link to this | Hansard source | Video match this

I can only repeat that Mr. Speaker considers it extremely important that all important matters on which this House should have a view should be brought before the House, but I am sure the hon. Gentleman will find ways to pursue these matters himself, and the points he has made are on the record.

10/12/2008

Training review heads for delays, job cuts

Training review heads for delays, job cuts
http://www.defencemanagement.com/news_story.asp?id=7964
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
The Defence Training Review (DTR) could be delivered up to three years late, cause thousands of layoffs and create trouble for the existing pensions of defence training staff according to an MoD newsletter revealed to Defence Management.

Already £1bn over budget, the £12bn project has recently seen its consortium led by Metrix resubmit their financial proposal in order to adapt to the declining economy and to find alternative methods of funding. The Final Clarification and Confirm process is now underway according to the MoD. Integrated project team leaders in the MoD will review Metrix's new proposal to insure that the project remains affordable and delivers value for money.

When Metrix was awarded preferred bidder status for the project in early 2007, its business plan included the sale of vacant MoD land to raise revenue for the deal. Since then the property market has crashed, thus negating the value of the estimated revenue Metrix hoped to raise and leaving a massive funding shortfall.

It is not yet known how Metrix plans to raise additional capital for the project. MoD officials have promised to ensure that the commercial core remains intact in the new business proposal. The MoD newsletter admitted that the new proposal has the potential to impact=2 0the "performance, cost and time," of the project.

There is the possibility therefore that the project will be slightly scaled back or delayed in order to allow Metrix to operate within its new financial means.

MoD officials now expect that the project could be delivered as late as 2015, three years later than first expected.

The DTR has been considered controversial by many people in part because it involves the privatisation of defence training. As a result, many MoD staff will either come under the control of the Metrix consortium or they will lose their jobs. Several thousand MoD civilian staff are set to be affected by the move.

According to the MoD newsletter 1,076 posts will be transferred to Metrix while another 1,000 staff will be kept "within the project". For the first time the MoD admitted that there will be a number of job losses as part of "an element of rationalisation" by Metrix.

Metrix officials had previously declined to confirm that the DTR would create job losses in some places while creating new jobs at St Athan in south Wales.

It was also revealed in the MoD newsletter that MoD staff who are lucky enough to keep their jobs via transfer to the Metrix consortium will not be keeping their government pensions.

The MoD's pension scheme will not transfer to Metrix, although the consortium promises to offer a "broadly comparable" scheme. For a pension to be "broadly comparable" the provisions do not have to be the same as the previous pension, but the overall value needs to be similar to the old pension.

Staff who have worked at the MoD for a few years will be able to transfer their pensions to Metrix's new scheme. However staff members who are close to retirement will be forced to draw on their pensions earlier than expected

06/12/2008

DTR cancel Academy meeting

The planned event by the DTR in London on 11 and 12 of Dec has been cancelled due to further on going 'clarification issues' between Metrix and the IPT ... .perhaps about funding???

No Military Academy Airport Road

John Petrol Head Smith MP keen to get a new road built to Cardiff airport -

Campaign against the road website

Airport road plan divides opinions Dec 5 2008 by Peter Collins, South Wales Echo

BATTLE lines have been drawn in an increasingly fierce debate on whether a multi-million pound access road to Cardiff International Airport should be built through the Vale of Glamorgan countryside.

The Welsh Assembly Government is expected to announce its preferred route early next year following extensive public consultation which has highlighted starkly differing opinions about the need for such a road and the environmental damage it could cause.

The Vale of Glamorgan-based Plaid AM, Chris Franks, today rejected all three alternative routes put forward by the Welsh Assembly Government, while Vale Labour MP John Smith called for an urgent start to work on the link.

Meanwhile, an action group opposed to what is regarded by many as the most likely option has criticised “deficiencies” in the study into the options and the public consultation on them.

Two of the three options centre on the A4232 from Junction 33 of the M4, while the third promotes a new road link south of J34 of the M4 with an eastern or western bypass at Pendoylan before linking with the A48 at Sycamore Cross.

Mr Franks said all three options should be dropped.

He said: “These options do not stack up economically, environmentally or financially.

“Pumping more than £100m into a scheme would have little benefit for the economy of Barry while causing a huge intrusion as a road is driven through countryside.

“If a scheme is being developed to tie in with the proposed Metrix defence academy scheme at St Athan, then I believe the money would be better put into improving both rail and bus services rather than building a road that is not needed.”

However, Mr Smith called on the Welsh Assembly Government to use some of the £140m provided by the Treasury to build the access road as soon as possible.

Mr Smith said: “The existing airport access road is a brake on the airport’s future growth. If Cardiff International Airport is to continue to be one of the fastest growing airports in the UK and to cope with the extra road traffic generated by the Defence Technical Academy and Aerospace Business Park in St Athan which are on the airport’s doorstep, the road system must be improved.

“I believe the road building will help stimulate the Welsh economy because it will create jobs for local people during the construction phase and inject money into the local economy as workers spend their money locally in our shops and businesses.”

Meanwhile, the NEVAR group (No Ely Valley Airport Road) has petitioned the Welsh Assembly Government on its handling of the consultation into the proposals.

The petition says: “We call upon the Welsh Assembly Government to consider the serious deficiencies in its study and public consultation exercise before making any decision as to road improvements or developments, other than those to reduce congestion at Culverhouse Cross.”

Enquiry Blank

Freedom of infromation link Disclosure log 1396 11/07/07 A member of the has requested information relating to the Cardiff Airport link road here

Miss Harriet Cozens Rail & New Roads Division