Directorate General Ships (Hansard, 10 December 1996)

§ Mr. Soames

The Directorate General Ships was formed within the naval support command in October 1995 to gather together different elements of the Royal Navy's engineering and material support functions. The organisation is responsible for directing the in-service support of surface ships and submarines and their equipments; for ensuring that proper consideration is given to support issues and marine engineering design requirements in the procurement of new naval platforms; and for the ownership and management of the naval stores inventory except for fuel and food. It contributes to the operational capability of the Royal Navy, together with other areas of the naval support command, to ensure the overall material availability, reliability and maintainability of front line military equipment. The main internal customer is the Commander-in-Chief Fleet, although the organisation is also closely engaged with the procurement executive in minimising the support costs of new vessels and equipments.

Internal review since its formation has shown that the services of the organisation will be most effectively delivered in the future by establishing it as a defence agency. It is therefore being launched on Wednesday 11 December as the Ships Support Agency. As a defence agency it remains part of the Department, but the chief executive has been delegated the necessary powers to discharge his responsibilities.

The Ships Support Agency comprises a headquarters at Foxhill, Bath, and currently occupies six other main sites—at Copenacre, Devonport, Eaglescliffe, Portsmouth, Rosyth and Weymouth. It employs some 2,800 staff, of whom 2,450 are civil servants, with the balance being military. Between 1996 and 2001 it is intended to collocate the organisation on the site occupied by the procurement executive at Abbey Wood, in Bristol, although project contract management staff will remain at Devonport and Rosyth naval dockyards and at Portsmouth naval base.

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The Ships Support Agency has developed a comprehensive set of performance indicators in conjunction with its owner and customers. These include measures to monitor the quality, timeliness and efficiency of the agency's outputs. The targets which have been agreed, for the period up to March 1997, are:

Materially Available Vessel Days (MAVDs) 1. To provide the Royal Navy with the agreed percentage of materially available vessel days: 62 per cent.

Pounds per MAVD 2. To provide the agreed Fleet availability cost-effectively: £5,000 per MAVD

To refine the £ MAVD Performance Indicator 3. Progress Report: March 1997

Upkeep Period Timeliness 4. To deliver upkeep periods within specified tolerances of the agreed programme: + 5 per cent.

Upkeep Period Costs 5. To contain the outturn cost of programmed upkeep periods within tolerance of the predicted cost: +/-5 per cent.

Upkeep Material Performance 6. To introduce a performance indicator to quantify material state at the conclusion of upkeep periods Progress report. March 1997

Fleet Time Material Performance 7. To limit the average number of outstanding operational defects per vessel in fleet time: 4 8. To introduce a performance indicator to measure the percentage of fleet time that vessels are unable for material reasons to meet their programmed task: March 1997

Efficient Stockholding 9. To improve stockholding to stock issue ration. 2.6:1

Resource Accounting 10. To ensure the implementation of the MOD accruals accounting system within the agency—progress report: March 1997

Through Life Costs 11. To create an effective through life cost model—Progress report. March 1997

Private Sector Involvement 12. To complete a review of the options for further Private Sector involvement in the support of vessels, equipment and weapons—Progress report. March 1997

Benchmarking 13. To draw up a comprehensive benchmarking programme: March 1997

Copies of the corporate plan and framework documents have been placed in the Library of the House.