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MP says move MOD to Portsmouth to make savings
Following today's speech by Liam Fox, Secretary of State for Defence, on making the Ministry of Defence itself leaner and more cost effective Mike Hancock, a member of the Defence Select Committee has called for the MOD to move from its costly London offices to Portsmouth.
Mike Hancock said: "It is difficult to see how civil servants could not do their jobs just as effectively here in Portsmouth as in London. Indeed given our naval base, they could probably do them better. Scrapping costly London offices and not having to pay London weighting allowances could bring substantial savings. It would also boost the city's economy."
The failings of defence procurement which has cost billions of pounds, has come under blistering attack in recent years - including from the all-party Defence Select Committee. So, Mike is also calling for the procurement function of the MOD to be beefed up. He said: "This is one area where if anything I would like more civil servants and experts. I hope the Secretary of State will not be tempted to make false economies here. It is better to spend a few pounds now on this, than to waste billions later on."
The MP also believes that the ideological policy of the Conservatives to replacing Trident nuclear weapons should not blind them to the need not to compromise our conventional forces requirements.
Mike said: "Spending billions on replacing Trident could mean not enough money for our conventional forces. And we have seen how our troops in Afghanistan in recent years and months have been without the helicopters and the equipment they need and how, tragically, that has proved costly in more injuries and deaths. I remain unconvinced that an expensive full replacement for Trident is a greater priority. If the Government decides ultimately to go ahead with such a replacement, it should, at the very least, find a way of reducing the burden on the defence budget so that our conventional forces are not compromised."
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Mike's letter to the Secretary of State is below:
Rt Hon Liam Fox
Secretary of State for Defence
Floor 5, Main Building
Whitehall
London SW1A 2HB
OUR REF: MA/SAVINGS
13 August 2010
Dear Secretary of State
I am writing to thank you for your speech today on defence and that you are looking at how to make the Ministry of Defence itself leaner. The Liberal Democrats have long said that it is difficult to argue how 100,000 service personnel need almost as many civil servants again to look after them. I am writing today to ask you to consider three specific things in this regard.
The first is that you consider moving either the whole or considerable portion of the Ministry of Defence from London to Portsmouth. This would make a considerable saving on London weighting allowances and no doubt on the cost of office space and other administration costs. It is difficult to see how the MOD staff could not do their job just as effectively in Portsmouth as in London. Indeed given the naval base here in Portsmouth, they might be able to do their job considerably better. Portsmouth is also an area, unfortunately, of relatively high unemployment in the South and this would also give a welcome boost to our economy.
The second issue is to consider carefully the work of the MOD on procurement. Many billions of pounds have been wasted on procurement and many projects have gone considerably over budget. This has been an issue of great concern both to the Defence Select Committee of which I am a member and to you when you were the opposition spokesman. On this, I would urge a strengthening of the MOD and for you not to make false economies in this area. If procurement needs more staff or more experts to stop very costly mistakes then it should have it. It is better to spend a few pounds now than a few billion later on.
The final issue is that of a replacement for Trident. As you will be aware there is an agreement between the Liberal Democrats and Conservatives to look at the cost effectiveness of a replacement for Trident. However, I would urge you and the Conservatives not to have your ideological policy to have massive nuclear weapons blind you to the need not to compromise our conventional forces requirements. Fighting the two wars in Afghanistan and Iraq at the same time has clearly stretched our armed forces to breaking point and sometimes, frankly, beyond. We must continue to have enough armed forces, weapons and equipment to fight these conventional wars. Indeed recent experiences suggest that this will be the greatest need in the future and will be most needed to fight terrorism and control rogue states.
I hope you will consider these points as part of your review of the MOD.
Best wishes
MIKE HANCOCK CBE MP
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