By Paul Dicken
A joint venture between the Welsh Assembly Government and the Ministry of Defence to protect jobs and improve efficiency has run up costs of £113m and failed to produce savings, auditors have said.
A joint venture between the Welsh Assembly Government and the Ministry of Defence to protect jobs and improve efficiency has run up costs of £113m and failed to produce savings, auditors have said.In a joint report on an air force fast jet repairs project in South Wales, the Wales Audit Office and the National Audit Office said the facilities had not been used by the intended tenant nor produced planned savings of £263m.
The Red Dragon project, established in 2000, was supposed to create a ‘super-hangar’ for the Defence Aviation Repair Agency and an aerospace business park in St Athan.
But the MoD then closed the agency and moved aviation repairs to main Royal Air Force operating bases. This had saved more than £1bn but the closure of the business in South Wales resulted in many job losses.
There are now plans to open a Defence Training Academy at the site, expected to bring in several thousand jobs and provide impetus for an aerospace park.
NAO head Tim Burr said a considerable amount of effort and money went into creating the facility, which was now almost empty. ‘As it happens, under the Defence Training Review there should be a future for the super-hangar at St Athan,’ he added.
‘But the Red Dragon project underlines that public bodies need to have considered all implications of their respective strategies before commencing joint projects.’
Auditor general for Wales Jeremy Colman said the project, which originally involved the now abolished Welsh Development Agency, highlighted the danger of complex projects where there was insufficient openness and information-sharing.
