John - you say "I don’t really know enough about how the set up will work to be more specific than that". An excellent point, and unfortunately nobody in DERA AT&E (at least at working level) knows either - that seems to be one of the "minor" details to be worked out later
Even those still in the system have been starved of hard information as to how the change will occur, and how the business will operate. This has naturally had the expected effect on morale.
My personal opinion is that privatisation (that's what it is, not a "partnership") will probably be positive for (most of) DERA when considered parochially, but I cannot see how it can be more efficient for the taxpayer. We'll never know in detail, I suspect, since there won't be sufficient hard data available to make a comparison. Heaven knows DERA needed to change from the old RAE/A&AEE culture in terms of milestones and cost efficiency, but some might think that many of the technical efficiency savings have been lost in additional beaurocracy...
Will this improve after Privatisation? It'll have to, but is the management culture there?
You say that most of your generation were driven more by job satisafaction than what went into your pay packets - I think that the same was true for my generation of (civilian) Boscombe entrants, since the civil service salary was never the greatest! It will be interesting to see what happens in the future if and when NewDERA staff decide that one commercial organisation is as good as another.
The working assumption is that Boscombe will be part of NewDERA, but at the moment this is not finalised, as confirmed by press reports recently. DERA are keen to keep AT&E, though.
Genghis, I understand your point about projects where kit was developed (and in some cases implemented) by other parts of DERA but the general culture still is one of independance, and most staff take a pride in that. It's their raison d'etre after all, as most see it. Hopefully commercial pressures and even partnerships (if they happen) will not erode that.
Twister: The integration of military staff is another of those minor points still to be worked out, but we are assured that there are no significant stumbling blocks. I take your point about how the seconded military staff (not just tps, of course) will feel if they are contributing greatly to, but not being acknowledged for, the dividends and share price of the new organisation. Another schism may occur if and when the perceived needs of the DPA and/or front line do not align with the requirements of the organisation. This is a significant concern to my mind, but not one that has been realistically considered IMHO.
The real issue as far as AT&E is concerned is "Does the MoD actually *need* independent T&E?". Having seen what is sometimes presented from contractors to Boscombe as a finished product, I would have to say emphatically "Yes" - your opinion may differ. I'd be interested in other's comments on this. This is not necessarily a slur on those companies - after all, specs and contracts are not MoD strengths sadly, even now, following the panacea of IPTs
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Sadly the whole DERA privatisation issue has not been aired publically in the same way as, say, PPP of NATS or the Underground. The press, and therefore the public, hardly seem interested since of course there's no threat, is there?
The House of Commons Defence Select Committee are less than impressed, e.g. "In our judgement the current risks of proceeding with the public-private partnership even in its new and improved format continue to outweigh the still hypothetical benefits." and "There is too much staked on the future success of DERA in sustaining capabilities critical to our defence for us to accept without further examination proposals that currently rely far too much on a wing and a prayer." These are selective quotes, of course, from the Conclusions to a report published in June 2000. For the full story see
http://www.parliament.the-stationery.../46206.htm#a8. The same is true of the Unions who to my mind have been realistic and pragmatic about this for a change. But the DoD are happy, so we are told (but no hard evidence provided) and the MoD have been assured that the £250M or whatever is raised from the sale will now remain with them and not go to the Treasury as originally planned, so that's OK then. As an aside, the last was in the small print of Gordon Brown's recent statement that included a Defence Spending increase (by 0.3% above inflation...) next FY - now we see where some of it is coming from without increasing taxes!
"Why PPP anyway?" is a worthwhile question. My own view is that it removes 9000 civil servants from the books, with the associated easing of the pensions burden, but what do I know?
Hey Ho. As I say, the Boscombe staff will do the best they can wherever AT&E ends up, but it's no fun to have so little information and not to be given straight answers to straight questions - even if you are a member of the Select Comittee on Defence, which I'm not!
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BossEyed 8-)