Pobjoy,
Plenty of people need to be sitting in front of a Commons Committee. But in my book (and it's just mine) I wouldn't be starting with SERCO.
I'd start with CAS, and I'd like the MPs to ask him for how many years the RAF were flying children in aircraft that were not, by definition, airworthy. (If you don't have a full auditable record of the material state of an aircraft, and don't know what the current configuration is, then it's not airworthy). By the way, for what it's worth (and thats not much) I'd guess around ten years at least.
I'd then follow up and ask him how he knows that the rest of his aircraft aren't in a similar condition. But that's just me being picky.
I'd then like to see them get ACAS up and ask him who cleared the aircraft for service - who signed off on the RTS in the first place, and on what evidence. And how often he reviewed that release, and on what evidence, and how recently.
Then it would Chief Engineer RAF, to explain to the MPs how his staff made such a poor job of carrying out their mandated supervision and quality assurance functions. As admitted by the MoD.
Then ex OC 3FTS for the MPs to ask him what HIS engineering staff were doing from 2010 to 2014.
Then it would be the turn of Chief Defence Materiel for the MPs to ask him what his staffs were doing to properly support the aircraft. and ensure that they were being kept in an airworthy state. If DE&S placed the contract with Serco, I'd like the MPs to ask CDM whether the contract was checked by DE&S's own in house cost investigations team before it was placed. (Come to that, it would be nice to know exactly who placed what contracts associated with the ATC fleet).
After all that, I'd like to see the MPs ask SERCO about the contract that they signed, how it was supervised, and what controls the RAF and the MoD (DES) placed on them. And what rates they charged and how much profit they made.
I must declare an (old) interest. In a previous appointment I was responsible for supervising a Serco contract to carry out deep maintenance on front line aircraft - we had some initial issues when the contract was starting up, but because I had a team of experienced engineers to help me, we were able to get a very good service out of Serco. Contractorisation does not equal problems.
I am afraid that in suspect that there will be a determined
PR effort by the RAF to shift the focus of interest on to the contractors. This is a full blown scandal and people will be running for cover.
Best regards as ever to those fixing the fleet and getting the Cadets safely back in the air,
Engines