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Ministry of Defence

Answer

Mr. Hoyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the number of jobs in his Department in Gibraltar; and what plans he has to change the number. [217597] Mr. Ingram: The Ministry of Defence currently employs 519 military personnel, 61 UK based civil servants and 1,038 locally employed civilians in Gibraltar. It was announced last week that, in line with Government policy to obtain best value for defence from the tax payer's money, we are implementing in Gibraltar the current UK and overseas best practice model for delivering facilities management. This involves outsourcing all the activities of the Gibraltar Defence Estates and the Joint Logistic Unit (except laundry and Motor Transport Engineering which are subject to separate efficiency proposals). Some two military, five UK based civilian and 296 locally employed civilian posts fall within the scope of the contract and are likely to transfer to the successful contractor. In addition to this initiative, a review of the supply of support services (eg janitorial, catering and motor transport) is also underway. The review team has yet to report, but a reduction of about 70-90 posts is likely if an in-house option is secured. If not, up to 300 posts could be contractorised. In addition, the Defence Communications and Services Agency (DCSA) in Gibraltar is also undertaking a review of its structure to improve effectiveness. It is planned that the DCSA will reduce the total number of staff and change the balance of employee types in favour of locally employed civilians. This is separate from the Defence Information Infrastructure (DII) initiative, which is due to impact on Gibraltar in 2007-08 and could lead to further outsourcing proposals. The DII initiative will replace our current administrative IT system. It is too early to assess what the impact will be, but up to 10 posts may be affected. As with all organisations, the MOD in Gibraltar will change and adapt to reflect an evolving defence need and the most effective way of delivering it.

Secondary information

Type

Written question

Reference

217597; 431 c965W;431 c961W

Session

2004-05

Subjects

Gibraltar Staff Ministry of Defence

Contains statistics

Yes

Link

View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk