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Delivering Front Line Capability to the RAF

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Delivering Front Line Capability to the RAF House of Commons Defence Committee Delivering Front Line Capability to the RAF Third Report of Session 2005–06 Report, together with formal minutes, oral and written evidence Ordered by The House of Commons to be printed 10 January 2006 HC 557 Published on 18 January 2006 by authority of the House of Commons London: The Stationery Office Limited £15.50 The Defence Committee The Defence Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to examine the expenditure, administration, and policy of the Ministry of Defence and its associated public bodies. Current membership Rt Hon James Arbuthnot MP (Conservative, North East Hampshire) (Chairman) Mr David S Borrow MP (Labour, South Ribble) Mr Colin Breed MP (Liberal Democrat, South East Cornwall) Derek Conway MP (Conservative, Old Bexley and Sidcup) Mr David Crausby MP (Labour, Bolton North East) Linda Gilroy MP (Labour, Plymouth Sutton) Mr David Hamilton MP (Labour, Midlothian) Mr Mike Hancock MP (Liberal Democrat, Portsmouth South) Mr Dai Havard MP (Labour, Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney) Mr Brian Jenkins MP (Labour, Tamworth) Mr Kevan Jones MP (Labour, Durham North) Robert Key MP (Conservative, Salisbury) John Smith MP (Labour, Vale of Glamorgan) Mr Desmond Swayne MP (Conservative, New Forest West) Powers The committee is one of the departmental select committees, the powers of which are set out in House of Commons Standing Orders, principally in SO No 152. These are available on the Internet via www.parliament.uk. Publications The Reports and evidence of the Committee are published by The Stationery Office by Order of the House. All publications of the Committee (including press notices) are on the Internet at: www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/defence_committee.cfm Committee staff The current staff of the Committee are Philippa Helme (Clerk), Richard Cooke (Second Clerk), Ian Rogers (Audit Adviser), Stephen Jones (Committee Specialist), Adrian Jenner (Inquiry Manager), Sue Monaghan (Committee Assistant), Sheryl Dinsdale (Secretary) and Stewart McIlvenna (Senior Office Clerk). Contacts All correspondence should be addressed to the Clerk of the Defence Committee, House of Commons, London SW1A 0AA. The telephone number for general enquiries is 020 7219 5745; the Committee’s email address is [email protected]. Media inquiries should be addressed to Jessica Bridges- Palmer on 020 7219 0724. Cover image reproduced with the permission of Crown Copyright, images from www.defenceimages.mod.uk Delivering Front Line Capability to the RAF 1 Contents Report Page Summary 3 1 Introduction 5 Background 5 Our inquiry 5 2 Changes to aircraft support 7 RAF aircraft support arrangements 7 The Defence Aviation Repair Agency 7 Changing strategic context 8 End to End Review 8 Principles behind the new arrangements 10 Crisis Manpower Requirement 10 The pulse line 11 Leaning 12 Relationship with industry 13 3 The new arrangements in practice 15 Fast jets: Harrier GR9 support 15 Fast jets: Tornado GR4 support 17 Background 17 RAF Marham 18 Plans for other fixed wing aircraft support 20 Rotary wing support 20 Coherence of the proposals 22 4 DARA 23 DARA’s performance 23 DARA’s future 24 DARA St Athan 25 5 Conclusion 28 Conclusions and recommendations 29 Annex: List of abbreviations 32 Formal Minutes 33 List of witnesses 34 List of written evidence 35 Reports from the Defence Committee 36 Delivering Front Line Capability to the RAF 3 Summary The Ministry of Defence (MoD) is making significant changes to its provision of logistics support for front line aircraft. Under the new arrangements, these maintenance lines will be reduced to two: “forward” and “depth”. It is only four years since the Defence Aviation Repair Agency (DARA) was established to provide MoD with a competitive alternative to private industry. During that time, DARA has, by common consent, provided a good service to the RAF and has consistently returned a profit. The Committee’s view is that the MoD has contributed to a period of unnecessary turbulence and uncertainty in aviation logistics provision. For fast jet aircraft (Harrier GR9 and Tornado GR4), depth support will transfer from DARA St Athan, South Wales, where it is carried out largely by civilian tradesmen, to RAF Main Operating Bases where it will be carried out by RAF tradesmen supplemented by tradesmen from the aircraft manufacturer. For rotary wing aircraft (helicopters), depth support will, by contrast, be provided at DARA Fleetlands, Hampshire, by RAF tradesmen and DARA civilian tradesmen. We are concerned that these inconsistent arrangements will not be sustainable over the long term. MoD’s rationale for these changes is based on ensuring that RAF manpower is available for crises. It aims to cut costs by removing unnecessary and wasteful duplications of support, and employing modern manufacturing techniques. The new arrangements for support carry risks: the long term sustainability of efficiency programmes; potential over-dependency on industry, and the capability of the RAF’s new support processes to meet surge demands. The DARA Trades Unions assert that there are serious problems with the new arrangements at RAF Marham and RAF Cottesmore including damage to aircraft and inability of the new arrangements to meet surges in demand. MoD denies these claims, and maintains that Harrier GR9 and Tornado GR4 support is being provided in a more efficient and cost effective manner than before. The Committee recommends an independent audit of the Harrier programme and if necessary a delay to the Tornado changes to allow the lessons to be taken into account. The future of DARA is uncertain: some of its businesses are to be closed down; others are to be market tested. The prospects for the DARA St Athan site, including its recently completed Superhangar facility costing over £100m, are in particular doubt. Seen with the benefit of hindsight, MoD’s decision to go ahead with building the Superhangar at DARA St Athan at a time when it was reviewing its logistic support provision was incomprehensible and we recommend an investigation by the National Audit Office and the Wales Audit Office. It was also a clear example of a lack of joined-up Government. But now that the Superhangar with its impressive state-of-the-art facilities has been built, it is vital that MoD works with other government bodies to attract commercial investment there. Delivering Front Line Capability to the RAF 5 1 Introduction Background 1. In an increasingly volatile world, it is vital that the UK’s Armed Forces are properly configured, equipped and supported. The 2003 Defence White Paper, Delivering Security in a Changing World,1 set out the case for flexible Armed Forces to meet the threats of the post-Cold War world. In 2003, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) commissioned a review of its logistics provision for air and land forces on the premise that the Armed Forces supply chain should reflect this flexibility. The report, Streamlining End to End Air and Land Logistics2 (subsequently referred to as the End to End Review) was described by MoD as “a comprehensive review of logistics process, from the front line to industry”.3 2. The End to End Review identified potential opportunities for increased flexibility and efficiency savings in the logistics support chain. The key points were announced on 16 September 2004:4 x The four lines of aircraft maintenance would be reduced to two: “forward” and “depth”; x the Harrier Joint Upgrade Maintenance Programme (JUMP) would be concentrated “forward” at RAF Cottesmore;5 x Depth support for the Tornado GR4 aircraft would be concentrated “forward” at RAF Marham; x By contrast, support for rotary wing aircraft would be concentrated “back” to DARA Fleetlands; x The MoD would explore, with the Welsh Development Agency and other Government Departments, alternative options for DARA St Athan, previously the hub of Harrier and Tornado GR4 deep maintenance. 3. This announcement was noted by our predecessors on the Defence Committee who expressed concern that “the new arrangements at RAF Marham will need to match, if not exceed, the high standards set by the skilled workers at DARA St Athan”.6 Our inquiry 4. On 21 July 2005, this Committee announced that it would be inquiring into: the delivery of frontline capability to the RAF. This will include the examination of the progress being made in implementing MoD’s decisions regarding the future 1 Cm 6041 2 Streamlining End to End Air and Land Logistics, 1 July 2003, JJ Dowdy McKinsey & Co. 3 Ev 49 4 HC Deb, 16 September 2004, c 164–165 5 The JUMP is a programme which will upgrade all Harrier GR7 aircraft to GR9. 6 Future Capabilities, 17 March 2005, HC 45-1 6 Delivering Front Line Capability to the RAF support of military aircraft, such as the decision to concentrate on-aircraft support of the Tornado GR4 ‘forward’ at RAF Marham. The Committee will be particularly interested in the implications of these decisions for the Defence Aviation and Repair Agency (DARA).7 As part of our inquiry, we visited RAF Marham on 16 November 2005 and DARA St Athan on 21 November 2005. 5. In undertaking our inquiry, we took oral evidence at the Civic Centre, Barry, Vale of Glamorgan, on 21 November 2005 from representatives of the main Trades Unions at DARA St Athan (Amicus, Prospect and PCS Union) and Mr Archie Hughes, Chief Executive of DARA. We also took oral evidence at Westminster on 29 November 2005 from Mr Stephen Hill, former Chief Executive of DARA, and from Rt Hon Adam Ingram MP, Minister for the Armed Forces, Air Vice Marshal Barry Thornton, Director General, Logistics (Strike), and Mr Nicholas Evans, Director General, Management and Organisation, MoD. 6. We are grateful to all those who provided oral and written evidence to our inquiry and assisted with our visits.
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