MOD Civilian Guard (Hansard, 26 April 1991)

§ Mr. Archie Hamilton

My right hon. Friend has decided to establish a new Ministry of Defence civilian guard service in Great Britain on 1 April 1992. Its headquarters and training staff will form before that date. It is our proposal that the new guard service, which will be formed from the Department's various existing civilian guard forces, comprising guarding, patrolling and watching grades, together with new entrants, will have a common uniform, common professional standards, common pay and conditions of service, a common staffing structure and common centralised training. The guard service will contribute fully to the mix of service, Ministry of Defence Police and civilian guard forces dedicated to the security of the Department. The guards' new pay scales and conditions of service will be appropriate to the work which they will be required to do.

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While commanding officers and heads of establishment will remain responsible for the command and control of the guards at their units, the professional management of the guard service as a whole will be the responsibility of the chief constable of the Ministry of Defence Police, with a professional head of guard service reporting to him. Training will be provided at the MDP Police Training school and the Royal Military Police training centre by MDP, service and civilian instructors. Professional standards and entry qualifications will be set by the chief constable and monitored by his regional staff, who will be based in the regions and answerable to the head of guard service. There is no present intention that any members of the guard service should be armed. Consultations about the new arrangements are proceeding with the trade unions concerned. It is the Government's intention that the new guard service should build on the excellent work done by our present guards; and that it should become the fully professional, well-trained and well-equipped service that the high terrorist threat requires.