The Defence Training Estate
98. The Defence Training Estate (DTE) comprises some
130 training areas and ranges in England, Scotland and Wales.
In 2003, the MoD let a £600 million contract to Landmarc
Support Services to assist in the management of the training estate.
The services Landmarc provides include almost all support activities
not directly relating to the training estate: Landmarc runs the
built estate, camps and accommodation, the rural training areas
and training ranges and a booking and management information system.
It also provides support to Defence Estates on environmental and
other issues. In addition to the initial 10 years of the contract,
Landmarc will be eligible for a five-year extension if it delivers
satisfactory results.[88]
99. A wide-ranging review of education and training
for the Armed Forces and MoD civilian staff began in 1999, and
the Defence Training Review (DTR) report, Modernising Defence
Training, was published in 2001. Among the report's recommendations
was that the delivery of some types of specialist training should
be rationalised on a tri-Service or MoD-wide basis. The DTR Rationalisation
Programme was created to introduce modern training methods and
technology, and concentrate training on to a reduced number of
sites, in order to give the MoD the flexibility it needs to match
training demand to defence needs.[89]
100. As part of the DTR, the training disciplines
were divided into two contractual packages; Package 1 covers Aeronautical
Engineering, Mechanical Engineering, and Communications and Information
Systems, while Package 2 covers Logistics and Personnel Administration
and Security, Languages, Intelligence and Photography. On 17 January
2007, the Secretary of State announced that the Metrix consortium
had been awarded Preferred Bidder status for both Packages.
It is expected that the number of DTE sites will be reduced
from around 30 to around 10. The main campus will be at St Athan
in the Vale of Glamorgan.[90]
101. There are still a number of challenges facing
the MoD with regard to the Defence Training Estate. Mr Olney acknowledged
that the drawdown of troops from British Forces in Germany "undoubtedly
will put pressure on training areas in the UK".[91]
However, as Vice Admiral Laurence went on to point out, major
formation exercises cannot be carried out on the mainland UK,
and the MoD is therefore forced to rely on training facilities
overseas, for example at BATUS in Canada.[92]
He suggested that one solution might be to retain the use of training
facilities in Germany, the drawdown of British Forces in Germany
notwithstanding.[93]
102. The Council for National Parks was concerned
that any rationalisation of the Defence Training Estate should
not result in "new, renewed or intensified defence use of
land in National Parks", and pointed to the MoD's statutory
duty, under the 1949 National Parks and Access to the Countryside
Act, to have regard to National Park purposes. Indeed, the Council
suggested that estate rationalisation might provide an opportunity
to reduce the impact of military training on the National Parks.
[94]
103. The MoD is currently reviewing the use of its
Air Test and Evaluation (T&E) ranges at Aberporth, the Hebrides,
West Freugh and Larkhill and the Sea T&E ranges around Raasay
and the Clyde. These are operated by QinetiQ under a Long Term
Partnering Arrangement, as part of which QinetiQ and the MoD undertake
regular reviews to ensure that capability is provided as efficiently
as possible. Each of the Air T&E ranges is currently managed
independently. The MoD and QinetiQ are examining whether it would
be more efficient to control trials from a single site, and, further,
whether the use of four ranges is the best way to deliver the
required capacity.[95]
104. The MoD,
through the Defence Training Review Rationalisation Programme,
is seeking to rationalise the Defence Training Estate and to improve
those sites and facilities that are retained. However, demand
for training may well increase in the future, particularly given
the relocation of UK Service personnel from Germany. The MoD should,
in its response to our report, set out how it plans to match the
future demand for training land, which is likely to increase,
with a reducing Defence Training Estate. The MoD should also set
out how it will address the concern of the Council for National
Parks that rationalisation of the Defence Training Estate might
intensify the use of training on the land in National Parks.
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