§ Mr. Neil TurnerTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement about the competition to find a strategic partner for the management of the Army's training areas and ranges. [123710]
§ Dr. MoonieAs my hon. Friend the then Under-Secretary of State for Defence, now Minister for the Armed Forces, said in his answer to my hon. Friend the Member for Dumfries (Mr. Brown) on 25 November 1998,Official Report, column 10W, we have been conducting a competition to seek a long-term strategic partner from the private sector to help introduce best commercial practice in supporting and managing the Army Training Estate. As a result of the work conducted thus far, it has been decided to include all non-core training support activities and services because there is scope for better value for money if the boundaries of the study were to be extended in this way. In addition, a site utility review is going to be conducted to establish the usage of sites and this may lead to rationalisation of some sites. It is too early to say what the impact of this work is going to be, both on jobs and individual sites, but the MOD Trades Unions will be consulted at every stage. Should any redundancies result from this study, these will be handled in accordance with MOD procedures agreed by the Trades Unions.