§ Mr. Hunterasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list those aspects or features of the work of his Department's research establishments which have been subjected to privatisation.
§ Mr. LeeI assume that my hon. Friend is referring to the provision of certain intramural services at MOD research establishments by contractors rather than civil servants. Contracting-out in this sense has taken place for various establishment support services, including since 1 January 1980
- —accommodation and workshop cleaning
- —equipment maintenance
- —air traffic control
- —operation and maintenance of range facilities
§ Mr. Hunterasked the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what financial savings have been made by privatisation in his Department's research establishments;
(2) what evidence there is that privatisation in his Department's research establishments has resulted in greater cost-effectiveness in appropriate budgets.
§ Mr. LeeTaking 1 January 1980 as the baseline, and assuming that the financial savings estimated to accrue at the time of going to contract have remained constant, we estimate that contracting-out of support services at the research establishments has resulted in cumulative savings totalling some £3 million over the six-year period.
§ Mr. Hunterasked the Secretary of State for Defence what reductions have taken place in Ministry of Defence employment in his Department's research establishments as a result of privatisation.
§ Mr. LeeSince 1 January 1980 the equivalent of some 600 posts at the research establishments have been removed as the result of contracting-out of support services.
§ Mr. Hunterasked the Secretary of State for Defence if there has been a net job loss or gain as a result of privatisation in his Department's research establishments.
§ Mr. LeeIt is not possible to answer this question with any precision. Contracting-out covers the provision of a 205W service and it is for individual contractors to decide how many posts are necessary to achieve this. In general, however, we find that contractors employ rather fewer staff to perform a given task than the numbers of civil servants previously employed.