§ 14. Mr. Barry FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what further steps his Department is planning to take to ensure the involvement of the private sector in the supply of defence support functions.
§ Mr. NeubertOur policy is to expose to competition from the private sector all those defence support activities where there are no overriding operational or security reasons for keeping the work in-house. We estimate that that continuing programme has already generated savings currently running at £55 million a year.
§ Mr. FieldAs civilian contractors are now used for aircraft maintenance, simulated electronic warfare and as pilots, as well as for target practice—although not of course as individuals—why, in the modern services of 1990 and in the future, cannot we have centralised messes for the expensive forces in our garrison towns?
§ Mr. NeubertWe have made great progress in several diverse areas in bringing in private contractors, notably for catering and cleaning. Catering is a very local service, and we have increased the number of contracts offered by the MOD from nine in 1987 to 45 last year. We are providing the opportunity for catering and mess arrangements to be improved considerably by private contractors.
§ Mr. Win GriffithsDoes the Minister recognise that many parents are concerned about the fact that security at places such as Marines school of music at Deal is still in the hands of untrained private contractors? Is he aware that the sooner that job is taken over directly by the services, the better it will be for all service personnel?
§ Mr. NeubertPrivate security guards are brought in to supplement the standard arrangements by uniformed personnel and it should not be presumed that the standards applying to them are any less than those that apply to military personnel engaged in those duties. By bringing in private contractors we can release highly trained service men to matters of higher military priority and enable them to use the skills that they alone have.