Memorandum from Borough of Telford and
Wrekin
1. I enclose evidence on behalf of the Borough
of Telford & Wrekin to the Defence Select Committee, for your
inquiry into the UK's ability to support military operations across
the globe.
2. You are focusing particularly on Strategic
Lift. We understand that internal factors within UK procurement
of materiel are likely also to affect the resourcing of front-line
operations, and should be grateful if this aspect of provisioning
is also explored by the Select Committee.
3. Stafford Park in Telford is a primary
location for ESSPA, the Equipment Support Procurement and Provision
Agency. ESPPA was formed in 1995 from the technical equipment
division at Donnington, the procurement branch at Andover and
the vehicle spares division at Chilwell. More than 400 employees
work at Sapphire House, in Stafford Park.
4. It is highly specialised in its procurement
functions, and supports tri-service mission critical activities,
including current front-line deployment in Iraq and Afghanistan.
5. Jointly with Andover, the Telford contingent
provisions the Manoeuvre Strike Cluster (M/S) which is the UK's
"battle winning capability". Support systems include
field artillery, light armour and tanks. Telford also provisions
the Combat Support Cluster (C/S) which is essential to the M/S
capability, and includes specialist and general utility vehicles,
and workshop, engineering and combat support equipment.
6. There is a current and foreseeable high
operational tempo, which requires continuity of specialist logistical
support. However, as part of the DLO's co-location policy, the
Telford contingent is due to be relocated to Bristol in March/April
2008 (Integrated Project Teams supporting M/S), and in late 2008
(IPTs supporting C/S).
7. There will be a major dislocation of
skills if the move to Bristol goes ahead on the present timescale.
A current evaluation is that over 90% of Sapphire House staff
will either not be able to relocate to Bristol or are not required
after the end of 2008. These staff and their current unique and
critical skills will be lost by then and are already starting
to leave as the effects of co-location planning bite.
8. The Member of Parliament for Telford,
David Wright MP, said in a Commons armed forces debate on 17 November
2005: (Commons Hansard col 1169-70) "The MOD will find it
incredibly difficult to recruit staff in Bristol, certainly skilled
staff. These are skilled jobs. Those people procure products for
the armed forces. It will be difficult to replace them when most
of them will not want to move from the Telford area. Of course,
it is also more expensive to live in Bristol and I am sure that
many people will not want to move because the costs of living
are greater there".
9. The Member of Parliament for The Wrekin,
Mark Pritchard MP, said in the same debate: (Commons Hansard col
c1195) "Shropshire has a long, proud tradition of service
in Her Majesty's armed forces, both on the front line and in the
defence supply chain."
10. The long term practicality and impact
of the co-location policy, and its wider effects on the defence
services, is a separate matter from the Committee's current questioning
about Strategic Lift. (We would trust that the maintenance of
a defence footprint across the UK would be an outcome of MoD location
policies.)
11. Therefore the immediate purpose of this
note is to draw the Committee's attention to the matter of whether
Strategic Lift will itself have an adequate and continuing DLO
back-up within the UK, during the current and foreseeable UK commitments
in the Middle East. We believe that the co-location activity for
ESPPA may need to be reconsidered for the time being.
29 March 2007
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