Press Release - Ministry of Defence: The Joint Services Command
and Staff College
7 February 2002
Sir John Bourn, Head of the National Audit Office, told
Parliament today that the Joint Services Command and Staff College
was a success story and had obtained value for money when using the
PFI to procure its permanent home.
The Ministry of Defence did well to establish the College but
there is scope to improve further the management and evaluation of
training
The MoD identified the need for a joint college, as command and
staff training had to keep pace with the fact that there were more
joint operations. Given the scope for disagreement between the
three Services, the College adopted an incremental approach and
concentrated on the design and delivery of the main joint course –
the Advanced course. In September 1997 the MoD launched its first
Advanced course which reflected the required level of ‘jointery’.
Launching this course on time was a considerable achievement.
Since its opening the College has generally delivered the
planned level of training and has consistently operated within
budget. Staff turnover has been high: 65 per cent of military
teaching staff on the Advanced course had been in place for less
than 15 months.
The College’s evaluation of the effectiveness of its training
compares well with good practice, and feedback has been largely
positive. It plans to extend its evaluation of the Advanced course
to ensure that it can identify some of the long-term benefits. We
welcome this and have identified a number of other ways in which
this evaluation could be improved still further. From April 2002
the College is to become part of the Defence Academy of the United
Kingdom. The Academy should take note of the College’s evaluation
practices and our suggested improvements to these, and apply these
more widely. Other public sector training bodies should also find
the College’s developing evaluation practices of relevance.
The 1998 PFI contract for the College’s permanent home was good
value for money and provides useful lessons
In June 1998 the MoD awarded a PFI contract for the College’s
permanent home to Defence Management (Watchfield) Limited. We confirmed that the PFI offered better value for
money than the public sector capital option as, at £200 million, it
was cheaper by £23 million and more affordable, and brought a
number of non-financial benefits.
The MoD changed the target date for the project from September
1997 to September 1999. Delays in negotiating the PFI contract then
pushed this back to September 2000. In the meantime the MoD
established the College in interim facilities. The 1998 value for
money assessment correctly did not take account of these factors
which had already occurred as it was concerned with the future cost
implications. Our own analysis of the signed PFI deal against a
hypothetical public sector capital option meeting the original
target date of September 1997 confirmed that, even taking account
of these factors, the use of the PFI was still likely to be
cheaper.
The PFI contract has delivered benefits. The new facilities were
completed on time in August 2000, allowing the College to admit its
first students at Shrivenham within days. Such a rapid opening was
a significant achievement. In addition, construction risk remained
with the private sector as substantial extra costs arising from
unforeseen ground conditions were not passed on to the MoD. To date
the contractor’s performance in delivering services and making the
new facilities available has been generally satisfactory. This
contract contains a number of useful lessons:
- The MoD has built flexibility into the contract; for example it
can vary its use of the college in future years.
- Poor contractor performance has been rectified without recourse
to financial penalties to the advantage of the relationship between
the MoD and the contractor.
- The College has identified that it needs to increase its
resources for managing the contract.
- The College is seeking greater control of utilities and other
items purchased on its behalf by the contractor.
- Departments need to show leadership and, where possible,
maintain continuity within the project team.
Sir John Bourn said today:
"The Ministry of Defence is to be congratulated on its
success in establishing the new College. Its success demonstrates
the benefits of departments showing clear direction and strong
leadership when managing change. The College is at the forefront of
good practice in its methods for evaluating training and
benchmarking, with a strategy that will be of interest to other
public sector training bodies."
Notes for Editors
- The Joint Services Command and Staff
College was established in January 1997 and initially operated in
temporary facilities at Bracknell. In August 2000 the College
opened in new purpose built facilities at Shrivenham. The College
trains 2,000 people a year with a staff of 160. Its forecast
expenditure in 2001-02 is £35 million. The College’s
establishment entailed the closure of the Joint Services Defence
College at Greenwich and the single Service colleges – the Royal
Navy at Greenwich, the Army at Camberley and the Royal Air Force at
Bracknell.The Advanced course was designed to prepare students for
the next ten years of their careers, during which time they would
go on to occupy senior and higher command and staff posts within
the three Services, Joint Commands and the MoD. Defence Management
(Watchfield) Limited is a special purpose company wholly owned by
Laing Investments and Serco Investments. Under the 30 year PFI
contract the company was responsible for the finance, design, and
construction of the new college, associated married quarters and
single accommodation, and provides facilities management services
and academic teaching. The MoD continues to provide directing staff
and military lecturers.
- Press notices and reports are available from the date of
publication on the NAO website at http://www.nao.org.uk/ Hard copies can
be obtained from The Stationery Office on 0845 702 3474.
- The Comptroller and Auditor General, Sir John Bourn, is the
head of the National Audit Office employing some 750 staff. He and
the NAO are totally independent of Government. He certifies the
accounts of all Government departments and a wide range of other
public sector bodies; and he has statutory authority to report to
Parliament on the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which
departments and other bodies have used their resources.
Press Notice 10/02
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