Naval Manning Agency (Hansard, 1 July 1996)

§ Mr. Soames

I am delighted to announce that today the organisation of the naval secretary and director general of naval manpower is to be established as a Defence agency of the Ministry of Defence. It will be entitled the Naval Manning Agency, NMA.

The NMA's owner will be the Second Sea Lord and Commander-in-Chief Naval Home Command, with whom the chief executive's headquarters will be collocated within HM naval base, Portsmouth.

The NMA is to ensure that sufficient manpower is available on the trained strength and effectively deployed in peace, crisis, major crisis and war.

As the first chief executive, the naval secretary, Rear Admiral F.M. Malbon, will be offered new opportunities to build on the current organisation's professional expertise and high performance standards. In maintaining the NMA's vital contribution to front line capability, the naval secretary, through the greater delegations and authority afforded by agency status, will actively seek to improve the efficiency and value for money of his organisation.

The naval secretary has been set the following key targets for the first year of operation:

(1) Greater than 93 per cent. of officer billets to be filled.
(2) Greater than 93.5 per cent. of naval rating/royal marines other ranks billets to be filled.
(3) Total strength of naval personnel to be within 1 per cent. of the set requirement.
(4) Greater than 60 per cent. of officers to receive more than four months' notice for change of appointment.
(5) Greater than 98 per cent. of ratings/other ranks to receive more than the specified notice for change of employment.
(6) The number of occurrences where minimum time ashore criteria are not met to be fewer than 150 per year.
(7) To achieve a progressive annual 10 per cent. reduction in the number of manpower gaps.
(8) To conduct two benchmarking exercises with comparable personnel management organisations per year.

348W

Letter from Keith Ellenden to Mr. Paul Flynn, dated 1 July 1996:

I am replying to your Question to the Secretary of State for Defence about receipts from the sale of surplus equipment as this matter falls within my area of responsibility as Chief Executive of the Disposal Sales Agency.

Total receipts from the sale of surplus equipment in each of the three services in each of the past five years are shown below.