You are:

“Our greatest asset - our people”

16 August 2010

The new Coalition defence secretary, Dr Liam Fox has now made several speeches regarding the future of our department. In his latest speech, made on Friday 13 August to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, he re-emphasised that the Coalition’s financial targets are more important than a fit for purpose Ministry of Defence.

Rather than looking to ensure our department gives the best possible support to the front line, he chose today to score party political points and pass the blame for coalition cuts to the previous Government. Our department needs leadership and direction, not rhetoric and point scoring.

Asserting that: “Our greatest asset is our people”, he then went on to outline why there would be significantly less of them in future – without specifying where any axe would fall.

A Defence Reform Unit, under Lord Levene and supported by a range of external people with backgrounds in private equity hedge funds, privatisations and PFIs, will be established to carve the department up into three pillars: Policy and Strategy, the Armed Forces, and Procurement and Estates. Our union will be pressing to meet this group to establish their ground rules and to impress upon them the vital role carried out by civilians in defence.

We will also ensure that they understand that the Ministry of Defence has been the subject of numerous reorganisations by the previous Government. Since the last defence spending review in 1998, military posts have actually increased by 4.7%, whilst civilian posts have been reduced by a massive 35%.

Since April 2004, civilian numbers in the MoD have decreased from 109,050 to 85,180 in July 2010 – a decrease of approximately 22%.

Alternatives do exist

Our union believes there is a genuine need for the unique experience and specialist knowledge military personnel bring to some non-military roles. However, not all military-held posts demand military expertise and the department should increase the use of civilian workers in non-deployable posts to ensure frontline support is maintained but at a much cheaper cost.

There are also examples of waste across the MoD which could be tackled, including £150 million a year spent on consultants and the growing costs of defence private finance initiatives, forecast to consume £1.5 billion of the defence budget this year on contracts of up to 40 years.

We will be putting forward these and other alternatives to Ministers, MPs and the department as part of our “Defence Cuts Cost” campaign, which will be launched ahead of the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) on 20 October. It will also coincide with a PCS MoD MP’s drop in briefing taking place at the Houses of Parliament on 13 October.

Defence Cuts Cost - campaigning in our branches, workplaces and communities

Our union wants every member in every branch involved in both the MoD group and national campaigns against the Coalition’s attacks on the public sector. We need to put as much pressure on the Coalition government to fight back against the devastation that is planned across our department and the wider public service.

We will work with your branch to develop local campaigns in your communities, and anywhere where the defence review threatens members’ jobs and local interests.

We need to identify where the axe will full. Data of all intended efficiency measures) are being collated. This extends beyond the main department to TLB's, trading funds and the privatised defence sector contracts. If you have any information on cuts affecting your area or branch, please let your local PCS representative know, or alternatively email: wastereport@pcs.org.uk. Please do not leave it to somebody else.

Start building work with other unions and organisations. We know on the ground that our colleagues in other civil service unions have strong sympathies toward our union’s stand on issues like CSCS. As the effects of SDSR unfold, we will support branches locally in building cross union campaigns.

Investigate whether you can develop links and joint campaigning with sympathetic groups that share common concerns regarding the impact of SDSR. These could include, but are not exclusive to, military organisations and local community groups and organisations.

Conclusion


Dr Fox concluded his speech by stating: “The defence review will reshape the MoD and the military for the challenges of the future and give greater certainty to those who depend on our defence industries.”

No one can argue that greater certainty for defence is important. However, at a time when hard working MoD staff are striving to support our armed forces whilst fearing for their jobs and futures, their only certainty seems to be that their loyal and committed service counts for little.

We will ensure that all MoD staff get a voice in the forthcoming reviews and that the importance of civilian staff is fully understood by those making decisions on our futures. We will stand up for sites and communities under threat of closure and will negotiate to ensure that individuals are not forced to accept relocation or redundancy as a consequence of any changes.



 

View all News