Defence project comes under fire

A MAJOR defence project has come under fire from Liam Fox for running late and being over budget.

The Defence Secretary named the Valiant Jetty programme as the first item on a “project of concern” list.

The submarine jetty on the Clyde was reviewed during the second meeting of the Major Projects Board (MPRB), which aims to hold the top 50 equipment projects to account.

Defence officials said the Valiant Jetty project, awarded to Amec plc in 2003, was nearly four years late and was estimated to be running £92 million over budget.

The Falcon communications system and the Watchkeeper surveillance system were also reviewed during the meeting.

Fox, who set up the MPRB in June, said: “It is clear that the additional rigour and scrutiny being applied through the Major Projects Review Board is having a beneficial effect on the behaviours of our suppliers.

“I am pleased that both Falcon and Watchkeeper have made progress since the board’s first meeting. However, I am not satisfied with the progress of the Valiant Jetty Project. It is almost four years late and over budget.

“We must learn from past mistakes and move away from a culture of optimism. Too frequently projects ran over-budget and over-time, without any meaningful remedial action.

“Real budgetary discipline can only be achieved through the effective real-time control of project budgets.”

The Valiant Jetty is to serve the new Astute class submarine at the Royal Navy’s Clyde base.

It is to deliver base porting facilities for the UK submarine fleet for the next 50 years.

The project should have completed in October 2008.

Amec’s earliest estimate of completion is now nearly four years after that, and its latest cost estimate is almost 70 per cent more than the contractual maximum price of £134 million, defence officials said.