§ Mr. HardyTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what action he is taking to ensure that skilled tradesmen in the armed forces have the opportunity to extend or maintain their skills by involvement in depot or major servicing and engineering where these are carried out by civilian businesses. [27915]
§ Mr. SoamesThe armed forces continue to train and practise their tradesmen in the full range of skills required to support the operational task and deliver military capability. Where it is deemed essential that a number of these tradesmen attain and maintain depot level skills following the transfer of such work to the private sector, either an element of the work will be retained in service or appropriate contractual arrangements will be put in place with industry to second service personnel to enable them to receive the required skill enhancements.