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Armed Forces: Defence Repair Agency

My right honourable friend the Minister of State for the Armed Forces (Adam Ingram) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement. Following my oral announcement to the House on 8 November 2005 on proposals for the future of the five business units of the Defence Repair Agency (DARA), the trade union consultation period is over, and I have made my final decision. This decision concerns the future of DARA's business units at St Athan in south Wales; Almondbank in Perth, Scotland; Sealand in north Wales; and the two units at Fleetlands in Hampshire. I have noted the Defence Committee report into Delivering Front Line Capability to the RAF. I will provide a full response to the committee in due course but it is my judgment that further delay in announcing the way forward will prolong a period of uncertainty for the DARA workforce, incur additional costs, and adversely affect current work to examine options for DARA. I have decided to implement my preferred options as explained in the consultation document. This will mean that:"DARA's fast jet business at St Athan will close by April 2007;""DARA's engine maintenance business at Fleetlands in Hampshire will close by April 2007;""DARA's helicopter repair and associated component businesses at Fleetlands in Hampshire, and Almondbank in Scotland, together with DARA's VC 10 work at St Athan, will be taken to the market to test whether sale might deliver improved effectiveness and value for money for our Armed Forces and a better long-term future for the workforce; and""DARA's electronics business, based in Sealand, north Wales, will be retained within MoD ownership, while we optimise the department's future avionics support arrangements." At the time of my announcement last November I made it clear that we would work closely with the regional Assembly in Wales—and we will of course engage with the other regional bodies—to mitigate the consequences of these necessary decisions and to provide appropriate outplacement services to help those affected. I pay tribute to the excellent service DARA employees have provided to our Armed Forces. I am particularly mindful of the impact this announcement will have for individuals especially, and for south Wales in general. We will help those affected to find alternative employment wherever possible and we will make every effort to use natural labour turnover, redeployment and voluntary redundancy to mitigate the loss. Using all of the above means we will seek to keep compulsory redundancies to a minimum but a significant number may be expected.