Written question asked by Madeleine Moon (Labour) on Monday, 27 April 2009, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 29 April 2009. It was answered by Bob Ainsworth (Labour) on Wednesday, 6 May 2009 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Armed Forces: Food

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make an assessment of (a) the popularity with personnel, (b) the value for money in comparison with the daily mess rate and (c) alternative options for implementation of the Pay as you Dine pilot projects carried out at RAF Henlow, Leuchars and Holton prior to (i) any extension of the contract at these stations and (ii) any further extension of the concept to other bases; and if he will make a statement.

Answer: Pay As You Dine (PAYD) trials were established at RAF Henlow, RAF Leuchars and RAF Halton in 2002, 2004 and 2005, respectively. The performance of these trials has been reviewed continually since they commenced and from early 2008 focus groups and consumer surveys have been carried out to assess performance in meeting the aspirations of consumers and their perception of value for money. On the whole personnel accepted that there would be winners and losers, but that PAYD would be a fairer system, allowing choice on how they spend their money. This information is being used to inform the dialogue process currently ongoing with industry to identify a PAYD model that meets the RAF requirements and is viable to industry.The MOD considered alternative options for PAYD both prior to implementing the trials and since. In all cases it was decided that the external contractor option best met the RAF requirements. This is still the expectation.RAF trials are continuing and a RAF specific solution is being developed in consultation with industry, with a final proposal expected by mid 2010 at the latest. It is then planned that a revised PAYD model, informed by the results of the trials, will be taken forward with industry and the agreed solution will be introduced as far as possible to existing PAYD units and rolled out across the other RAF sites.

Secondary information