§ Lord BachMy honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Mr Ivor Caplin) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
In 1997 the initial and major phase of the transfer of support service activities to Flagship Training Ltd (Flagship), under partnership arrangements with the Naval Recruiting and Training Agency (NTRTA), was agreed and subsequently implemented.
I am pleased to inform the House that I have now agreed in principle to the next phase under this arrangement and the transfer of the provision of services which falls into two categories: Harmonisation, and the integration of the Nuclear Department.
This phase will enhance the support services already transferred, providing greater efficiencies and effectiveness across the five major training establishments for the Royal Navy. There are potential total savings for the Naval Recruiting and Training Agency of approximately £6 million over the remainder of the contract period to 2011.
The anticipated number of posts to be transferred is 296 (273 civilian and 23 service) under Harmonisation and 24 (20 civilian and four service) in the Nuclear Department. The trades unions have been regularly informed of progress and the formal consultation process has begun. A copy of the consultative documents has been placed in the Library of the House.