§ Mr. Alasdair MorganTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what assessment he has made of the impact of his proposals for DERA on the number of staff employed by private companies at the DERA base at West Freugh. [128284]
§ Dr. MoonieI refer the hon. Member to the answer which Sir John Chisholm, Chief Executive of the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency, DERA give him on 29 June 2000,Official Report, column 593W.
Under our current proposals, we envisage that the capabilities provided by West Freugh will form part of the NewDERA company. It is, therefore, likely that the 375W DERA staff at West Freugh would transfer to the private sector. The status of other staff at DERA West Freugh will continue unchanged.
We are confident that our proposals will secure a long-term future for both NewDERA and those elements to be retained within the Ministry of Defence, which should have a positive impact on job prospects. In addition, the new freedoms proposed for NewDERA will open up a range of commercial opportunities not previously available and help secure jobs in the longer term.
No final decisions on the PPP will be taken until all the inputs received during the consultation exercise, which ended on 9 June, have been fully analysed. We hope to be in a position to make an announcement on the way ahead for DERA before the summer recess.