Warship Support Modernisation Project (Hansard, 10 January 2002)

§ Mr. Hancock
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if the bidding companies for the Warship Support Modernisation Project have been allowed to amend their bids since the closing date following subsequent discussions with Warship Support Agency officials. [25864]
963W

§ Mr. Ingram
Proposals were received in September 2001 from the Dockyard companies for potential partnering arrangements at each of the Naval Bases as part of the Warship Support Modernisation Initiative. Since then, the normal process of post-tender clarification, negotiation and assessment has been taking place. This has involved discussions by officials with representatives from each of the companies. As a result of these discussions, the proposals have been amended in places to clarify matters that had not been fully explained and to reflect the latest state of play in these negotiations.

§ Mr. Hancock
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if the trade unions' alternative proposals for the Warship Support Modernisation Project demonstrate value for money; if value for money will be the sole criterion for the final decision; and if he will make a statement. [25868]

§ Mr. Ingram
Officials in the Ministry of Defence are currently assessing the alternative proposals from the MOD trade unions for warship support modernisation, alongside the in-house efficiency proposals from the Naval Base Management and the proposals from the Dockyard companies. All options are currently being compared for value for money, together with their technical, commercial and Human Resource implications.

§ Mr. Hancock
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will make a statement on the circumstances in which naval personnel can be used by a private company to provide a profit-making service to the Royal Navy; [25865]
(2) what arrangements have been put in place to secure the continuing service rights of naval personnel who will be working for a profit-making private company on the Warship Modernisation Project; at what cost; and if he will make a statement. [25866]

§ Mr. Ingram
If partnering is the agreed way forward, a number of naval personnel will be seconded to work with the companies, chiefly in the area of engineering support. They will remain available for standard military duties, training and for other ad hoc military or emergency tasks. The use of these personnel will be charged to the companies on an annualised hours basis, whereby the companies will pay for the available working time of those personnel at local commercial rates. All naval personnel employed within the partnering arrangements will continue to be subject to the essential terms and conditions of service which apply to all Royal Naval personnel irrespective of where they serve.