MoD experts have a pivotal role supporting the UK's armed forces says Unite

9 April 2008

Unite, Britain's biggest union, has written to Baroness Taylor to urge her to ensure that MoD experts have a pivotal role supporting the UK's armed forces, rather than transferring future work critical to the nations defence to the private sector.

The union is calling on Baroness Taylor to ensure that the newly created Defence Support Group (DSG) receives long term, guaranteed investments.

On 1st April, ABRO the Army Based Repair Organisation and DARA the Defence Aviation Repair Agency, merged to form the Defence Support Group (DSG). The new organisation brings together the in-house repair of lorries, tanks, planes and battlefield electronics at the MoD.

The union is warning that the DSG has a limited lifespan unless it has access to future work and that the critical skills of the staff working at the DSG are under threat without guarantees on investment in the plant, processes and people.

Staff inside DSG are meeting every challenge with distinction as they repair planes, tanks and Land Rovers coming back from Afghanistan and Iraq.

Earlier this year the Government announced the sale of the Defence Aviation Repair Agency's (DARA) rotary wing and components (RW&C) operation to the Canadian owned Vector Aerospace.

Unite national officer, Ian Waddell says, "We welcome the creation of the new DSG agency as an important step forward in protecting defence critical skills and capabilities under one roof, but it is essential that the new DSG is given work to do by the armed forces.

Our members inside DSG are meeting every challenge with distinction as they repair planes, tanks and Land Rovers coming back from Afghanistan and Iraq.

In order to ensure that these vital skills are protected for the long term, the MoD must guarantee investment and order the armed forces to use the DSG rather than taking work to the private sector."

The union is calling on the MoD to;

1.Lay out responsibilities for the agency which are clear to industry, the Armed Forces and management within the MoD.

2.Ensure that decision making on procurement and the sourcing of maintenance, repair and overhaul takes into account the impact of any decisions on the DSG as a pre-requisite. In this way, a proper evaluation and impact assessment of decisions could be made.

3. Invest in plant, machinery and most importantly, people, in order to ensure that the DSG provides value for money and world class support to our Armed Forces. The union is urging the MoD to re-examine the financial constraints the agency faces in having to make a profit and return this to the centre. The union believes this represents the worst of both worlds as there is little opportunity to reinvest profits in the business, and therefore little incentive to drive down costs and improve efficiency.