Inexperienced politicans & Rhodri Morgan

Inexperienced politicians and the messes they make By Matthew Sinclair She counts among her "achievements" Railtrack's renationalisation, the selling of Qinetiq for a fraction of its true value, and the disastrous creation of Metronet. This one-woman disaster zone has cost the taxpayer several hundred ...The TaxPayers' Alliance - Better... - http://tpa.typepad.com/bettergovernment/

Best quote ever from House of Commons questioning of civil servants involved in Quinetiq sale. MP Richard Bacon: "MR WOOLEY ARE YOU A CHARTERED ACCOUNTANT ?
"Woolley: "I AM NOT"
Bacon: "ARE YOU A QUALIFIED FINANCIAL PERSON OF ANY KIND ? DO YOU HAVE ANY FINANCIAL QUALIFICATIONS ?"
Woolley: "I DO NOT HAVE ANY FINANCIAL QUALIFICATIONS"
Bacon: "WHAT IS YOUR JOB ?"
Woolley: "I AM THE FINANCE DIRECTOR OF THE MOD"

Rhodri Morgan - Don’t worry about Plaid Daily Post, UK - 18 Feb 2008
He criticised Plaid vice president and MEP Jill Evans for attacking the proposed multi-million pounds Defence Training Academy in St Athan, south Wales, ...So who is Rhodri listening to?

massive privatisation of military training -

Bloglith Jill Evans / Jill Evans' Blog
By Cangen Bontnewydd Branch, Plaid Cymru(Cangen Bontnewydd Branch, Plaid Cymru)
Justice Group. The subject was the proposed military training academy at St Athan. This is a massive privatisation of military training - putting it into the hands of private companies. You can read about the issue in more detail in the ...
Plaid Cymru, Cangen Bontnewydd Branch - http://plaidcymrubont.blogspot.com/

Paul Murphy St Athan project nothing to do with him!

Q. Did the 'Wales Office' not have to approve the St Athan PFI?

Paul Murphy : Written Answers - Wales: Departmental Private Finance Initiative (3 Mar 2008)
The Wales Office has not initiated or approved any private finance initiative projects in the last threeyears.

A. Its not a Welsh PFI. Remember that MC3 package 1 solution was based around Bordon and Cosford and Portsmouth. It was instigated by Mod with Ministerial backing. However the Welsh politicians did help Metrix win the bid by hard lobbying and the WDA provided human resources to METRIX.

Not in our NAME!

BBC NEWS | Wales | Wales bid for UK military academy
Politicians have been in London to make the case for St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan as the location for a new pan-forces military academy. ...not in my name!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/4825632.stm

Same old lies....5,500 jobs ...no way

Speaking at the launch of the bid by Metrix in London on Monday, economic development minister Andrew Davies said the Welsh Assembly Government was "fully supportive".
The creation of 5,500 jobs and with 10,000 trainees being based at the site are estimated to be worth around £58m per year to the area

Even John Smith of pork barel fame and Metrix lacky doesn't agree with those figures.

John Smith MP in the House of commons on Thursday 28th Feb

Metrix has used the most conservative calculations to show that it will create at least 1,500 jobs in the wider community of my constituency of Vale of Glamorgan and south Wales generally.

Not so many jobs then...John Smith?

I notice that the job figures are going down.. ...down...down...John Smith MP paid for 4 newspaper pages to be published (funded by his parliamentary communications allowance) in the Glamorgan Gem on the 31st Jan 2008 proclaiming that there was to be 5,500 jobs....and has been saying this time and time again since or before Jan 2007. Now it is 3,000 jobs ...maybe ...and we are to believe Metrix???
Will he now apologise for misleading the people of Wales and in his constituency? Will he pay to publish a new more accurate account of the number of jobs available?? Now John Smith MP says we must be careful?....a little late for that noww that the welsh people have been repeatedly told that there will be 5,000 + jobs and that is the basis for ALL the politicians backing it. Time to ask some questions ...the people of Wales deserve better.

John Smith MP in the House of commons on Thursday 28th Feb says there are only 3,000 jobs...

"However, I shall give the revised figures. There will be roughly just over 1,000 trainers' jobs—in training design and general training provision—just over 1,000 support jobs for training on the site; and 1,000 full-time military jobs on the site. That is approximately—we must be careful—3,000 jobs.

Metrix has used the most conservative calculations to show that it will create at least 1,500 jobs in the wider community of my constituency of Vale of Glamorgan and south Wales generally. Metrix uses a multiplier of 0.5. That means that every new military job—uniform or civilian—that comes to St. Athan will create half a job in the community. The company therefore estimates 1,500 jobs and a total of 4,500. That is down from the original total of 5,500 but I stress that the estimate is conservative. The usual multiplier for military bases that move into an area and provide work is between one and a half and three times the number of military jobs.

The number of jobs that we get in Wales depends on us, not Metrix or anybody else. It depends on our preparedness to take up the jobs and the opportunities that come our way as a result of the process. If one read the BBC website on the day of the announcement, one would have believed that we had lost out. The calculation that I explained does not include the training of at least 6,500 military engineers every year at St. Athan. The jobs that that will create are not even factored in. It is a huge opportunity."

Note that Raytheon armsdealers is a key partner of the Metrix consortium - They mislead people in Northern Ireland ....
Raytheon managers have been in collusion with Invest Northern Ireland officials to evade and ignore the policies of Derry City. Representatives of the SDLP and Sinn Fein, have repeatedly said that Raytheon gave them explicit assurances that there would be no arms-related production at the Derry plant. The two parties have explained that it was on the basis of these assurances that they welcomed Raytheon to the north west. It is now clear that Raytheon wasn't telling the truth.

Are we sure they are telling the truth here to the Welsh people???

Contact John Smith MP smithj@parliament.uk

PCS ST Athan Evidence to the WAG Finance Committee

Thurs 21 st Feb 2008 - The Assembly's finance committee is looking as the role of private investment in public services. It is approaching the subject with an open mind and has no agenda, other than to establish whether services remain operational or at risk and whether they are value for money or not.

A response to the Assembly Finance Committee’s Inquiry into Public-Private Partnerships

FIN(3)-04-08 : Agenda

Finance Committee The agendas, papers and transcripts for each meeting of the Committee can be found here.

The Defence Training Academy

FIN(3)-03-08 : Paper 3 - written evidence submitted to PPP Inquiry by PCS

Read the whole report here
A recent example of a central government PFI deal affecting Wales is the award to the Metrix Consortium of a £19 billion contract to provide training for the armed forces at St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan. This consists of a programme to:

• Rationalise defence training across the Ministry of Defence (MoD);
• Reduce the number of sites where training is conducted;
• Use a PFI model to build the new training infrastructure to replace the current training and accommodation facilities; and
• Privatise training support and delivery.

It has generally been welcomed in Wales because of the prospect of thousands of jobs coming to St. Athan and the surrounding area. There are, however, some significant question-marks over the project.

The extent of the jobs gain and savings

The Metrix project originally consisted of two separate packages, which together accounted for an estimated total of 4,000 training staff who would have been in scope for transfer to the private sector, and relocation to St. Athan from numerous locations across the country. It was announced recently, however, that 'Package 2’ - covering logistics, security, intelligence, personnel and policing - is no longer considered economical and has been removed from the scope of the project. This accounts for around 2,000 staff and more sites than Package 1 and therefore calls into question the £2 billion savings that the deal was supposed to deliver

Loss of experience

PCS is extremely concerned about the assumption that the staff providing the services within and around facilities should automatically transfer. In discussions with the MoD, PCS has consistently raised concerns over the risk to defence training of instructional and support staff not transferring to the preferred bidder. Recent transfers indicate that between 80% and 90% of staff will not relocate. Whilst the MoD recognises this as a risk, it has not addressed the scenario, nor indeed offered any solutions. Instead the MoD states that such a risk will transfer to the bidder and is therefore not the concern of the department.

The belief that a single training specialist included in the bidding consortium can deliver the same high standard provided by the current training delivery staff is questionable. If large numbers of training staff were to decide against moving to the private sector, as our indicators suggest, we believe it is unlikely that the bidders could replace them with equally experienced instructors. The project therefore raises the spectre of an incalculable skills drain in specialist training.

Lack of accountability

PCS is concerned that the department will not to be able to control the costs of the project. The contract’s length and the fact that the first breakpoint - unprecedentedly - will not be until 15 years into the contract, will almost certainly lead to spiralling costs. Numerous factors could influence training requirements, including future deployments, new equipment and the quality of new recruits. The changing nature of Britain’s defence response will also impact upon the training requirement, and for these changes the private sector will exact a high financial price. A recent NAO report into MoD contracts noted that over 50% of contracts had to be altered due to changes in specification. In a twenty five year contract in an area as fast moving as defence and its associated training requirement, it is obvious that a large number of contract amendments will be made.

Thursday, 21 February 2008

FIN(3)-03-08 : Agenda

FIN(3)-03-08 : Paper 1 : written evidence submitted to PPP Inquiry by TUC

FIN(3)-03-08 : Paper 2 : written evidence submitted to PPP Inquiry by Unison

FIN(3)-03-08 : Paper 3 - written evidence submitted to PPP Inquiry by PCS

FIN(3)-03-08 : Paper 4 : Written evidence submitted to PPP Inquiry by NUT Cymru (pdf, 290kb)

FIN(3)-03-08 : Paper 5 : written evidence submitted to PPP Inquiry by WLGA (pdf, 116kb)

FIN(3)-03-08 : Paper 6 : Analysis of written evidence received for PPP Inquiry (pdf, 91.7kb)

Elfyn Llwyd MP

Elfyn Llwyd MP for Meirionnydd Nant Conwy 21^st Jan 2008

“As your letter implies the decision was one made by the Westminster Government.

Plaid Cymru recently debated St Athan in the context of its Defence Policy at National Council. After a very interesting and detailed debate it was decided that this would be a constituent of a conventional defence policy.

My personal view is that, although Plaid is not a pacifist party many Plaid members hold that view. I am not a pacifist as such and believe that Wales should play its full part in defending as opposed to conducting any aggressive military policy. …

You will know that we ahve established a strong reputation in the House of Commons in defending human rights and we have consistantly voted agaisnt Afghanistan and Iraq from the very beginning.

The motion that was passed at National council also calls on the Wales Assembly Government not to involve itself in arms sales.”

Contact Elfyn at his Constituency

Sheila Williams
Plaid Cymru - The Party of Wales
Ty Glyndwr
Heol Glyndwr
Dolgellau
Gwynedd
LL40 1BD
email sheila@plaid-cymru.org
phone 01341 422661
fax 01341 423990

Westminster

Elfyn Llwyd MP
House of Commons
London
SW1A 0AA
email llwyde@parliament.uk
phone 020 7219 3000

Surgery Details

Friday evenings, Saturday mornings monthly at:
Balenau Ffestiniog, Bala, Tywyn, Harlech, Bramouth and Llanrwst.

Weekly surgeries are held in Dolgellau.

For further information please contact Sheila Williams on 01341 422661.

National Council:

• notes the attached position paper on defence
• notes that the decision to establish a DTA at St Athan was the decision of the UK government alone
• notes that many party members for religious and moral reasons are campaigning against the development
• reiterates Plaid Cymrus opposition to privatisation, including that of military training

National Council further:

· supports the economic development programme of the One Wales government which will ensure the creation and retention of employment “firmly guided by sustainability principles, encouraging long term, high quality jobs” in all parts of Wales

· calls on the One Wales Government to remain committed to the stautory requirement in the Government of Wales Acts to promote sustainable development

· emphasises the need for the Assembly to be kept fully informed of all developments relating to the Defence Training Academy and to be consulted on all future decisions relating to the project

· notes that there is no direct spending by the NAG on the Defence Training Academy but asks that any ancillary spending by the Welsh government is made public

· calls for more detailed information about the kind of jobs that would be offered to local people and the planned wage levels

· calls on the One Wales Government to seek assurances that the companies involved in the Metrix consortium are not engaged in the illegal trade of unethical arms and to make that information public

· calls on the One Wales Government to request a guarantee from the British Government that no training will be offered to countries which are undemocratic or guilty of human rights abuses

· reiterates our opposition to the Iraq war and notes our concern regarding sending soldiers without them having the appropriate equipment.

John Smith pork-barrell award!

John Smith MP whooping 4 pages in the Glamorgan gem with that carton in it reminded me of this article! I think we should have an new award for him – the pork-barrelling award.

http://burningourmoney.blogspot.com/2007_01_01_archive.html

In the national interest. Not. Jan 17 2007

pork-barrelling. That's the practice whereby US Congressmen divy up Federal tax dollars among themselves to pay for pet projects back in their constituencies. The general idea is to buy continued electoral support back home, although there have also been plenty of cases where more direct financial considerations are involved.

Some have argued that such things could never happen here because... well, we have a national government that acts in the interests of the entire nation, not just favoured bits of it.
Yeah. Right.

Last autumn we had the scandal of the electoral "heat maps", which Commissar Hewitt uses to decide which hospitals to let close- ie those in Tory areas- and which to protect- ie those in Labour marginals. In fact, as we later discovered, since 1997, 70% of new hospitals have been built in Labour constituencies.

Then last weekend - blow me down - we learned that exactly the same thing has been happening with schools. Under Labour's Building Schools for the Future programme, 27 out of 38, or 70% of the projects, have gone straight to Labour authorities.

And today we hear of yet another case, this time involving the oldest pork barrel of all- defence.

BOM and the oldest pork barrel of all- defence.
http://burningourmoney.blogspot.com/2007_01_01_archive.html

readers will recall the case of St Athan, the MOD's aircraft maintenance facility in South Wales. Just before Christmas, MOD tried to bury the bad news that the base was to lose its maintenance contract, threatening thousands of local jobs.
Not surprising they wanted to bury it because St Athan is slap-bang in marginal Labour country, with the local MP, John Smith, sitting on a horribly wobbly majority of 1800.

Oh, er.

What to do? What to do?

Ah yes. Easy. Simply close some other bases in Tory or Lib Dem constituencies and transfer their work to St Athan.

Which is exactly what's happening Jan 2007. Des Browne has announced that St Athan is to be Britain's new Defence Training Hub, and that training will stop at Blandford Camp in Dorset, and at RAF Cosford in the Wrekin, terminating thousands of local jobs in both places.

And yup, both Blandford and Cosford are in Tory constituencies.

I think the appropriate expession is oink, oink.

PS We can't blog pork barrelling without just mentioning once again a few of the all-time US greats.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pork_barrel&action=edit