§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much compensation has been awarded for insufficient work load in each of the last three years to(a) DML in Devonport, (b) SLM in Portsmouth and (c) BRCD; and if he will make a statement. [36300]
570W
§ Mr. IngramIn the last three years a total of £2.1 million has been paid to the dockyard companies in compensation where they have been unable to otherwise recover overheads due to changes in the naval maintenance programme. Such payments are made only where it has not been possible to reflect the changing work load in the annually agreed charging rates or to mitigate its impact by allocating other work. I am withholding details of individual payments to the companies in accordance with Exemption 7 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information relating to commercial activities.
§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what guarantees his Department has given to(a) DML in Devonport, (b) SLM in Portsmouth and (c) BRCD as to their future work load in the next three years; and if he will make a statement. [36301]
§ Mr. IngramAs part of the 1997 dockyard sale agreements undertakings were given to the two dockyard companies, DML at Devonport and BRDL at Rosyth, as to their share of the future naval ship maintenance work load for an agreed period. Similar arrangements apply to FSL, who operate within Portsmouth Naval Base, under the GOCO (Government Owned Contractor Operated) contract awarded to them in 1998.
The Warship Support Modernisation Initiative, which is looking at ways to modernise support arrangements across all naval bases and dockyards, involves negotiations with the companies with a view to increasing the proportion of the surface ship refit and repair programme opened up to competition. Any undertakings on future work load will be dependent on the outcome of this initiative.