MPs attack MOD over helicopter procurement “fiasco”
The Public Accounts Select Committee has severely criticised civil service officials over what MPs branded a “fiasco” in helicopter procurement.
In an evidence session at the Public Accounts Select Committee, the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Defence (MOD), Sir Kevin Tebbit, apologised to MPs over his department’s handling of the procurement of eight Chinook helicopters and admitted that the taxpayer had not been well served by the project.
Eight Chinook helicopters, worth £265 million, which were meant to be in service in 1998 have been grounded as they are not “fit for their operational task” after failing to meet British safety standards. In addition, Apache attack helicopters were grounded over a lack of trained pilots and a shortage of equipment led to 24 Lynx helicopters, rather than the anticipated 33, being sent to Iraq.
One Committee member, Alan Williams, demanded to know whether anyone had been sacked over the failures, and suggested that Sir Kevin should consider his position. He pointed out that the Department had known about the problems with the Lynx helicopters- and the need for sand filters- in 1991, yet this had not been addressed by the time of the next Iraq war.
Defending his operations, Sir Kevin replied that the Department had no way of knowing where the next deployment was, and as there had been no desert operations after 1991 it had not been necessary to fit filters.
This attitude due a furious response from the Swansea MP, who said: “You sound like British Rail saying it is the wrong kind of snow.
“The British army is supposed to be able to operate anywhere in the world” he exclaimed, describing the affair as the result of “downright absolute incompetence”,
Sir Kevin, however, denied the accusations, saying that the Department has to operate within its resources and stressed that there was no deficiency of air support within Iraq. The Department will be making an announcement about the future of the Chinook shortly, Sir Kevin said.
The MOD head refused to name the civil servant who had been in charge of the Chinook procurement team, despite questioning from Richard Bacon, and said the problems with the project were not down to one individual, and that responsibility should be shared between the project team, the operational requirements staff, the safety authority itself. In addition, he admitted there should have been better senior staff oversight, and contractor behaviour was over-optimistic.
Sir Kevin told the committee that while the figure of 38 per cent has been given for the shortfall in helicopter capability, the Department’s own figure is 20 per cent.
