John
09-16-2010, 09:10 PM
The Ministry of Defence has been slammed for "astonishing" failures in its purchase of a new £10.5bn fleet of tankers and transport aircraft.
MPs on the influential Public Accounts Committee (PAC) have said the MoD agreed to sign up to the deal even though it had no idea whether or not it was getting value for money.
According to a PAC report, despite the vast cost the aircraft are not even equipped to fly on missions in Afghanistan.
To kit them out with sufficient protection for combat zones would cost the taxpayer hundreds of millions more.
The deal was struck as a Private Finance Initiative (PFI), which means a private company covers the initial cost and is then gradually reimbursed by the taxpayer - with a premium added on top.
PFI has been criticised in the past because although it allows infrastructure projects to be carried out quickly, it obliges the taxpayer to pay back much more than the initial cost for years - sometimes decades - to come.
Committee chair Margaret Hodge said: "It is simply astonishing that it took until 2006 to recognise that the new aircraft should be able to fly into high-threat environments like Afghanistan.
"Four years later, (the MoD) has still not decided whether to fit the necessary protective equipment... because of the implications this would have for the cost of the PFI."
It comes amid a growing row over the cost of the UK's nuclear capability.
Senior Tories have expressed alarm at reports that the Government could put off the final decision on whether to go ahead with the replacement of the four missile-carrying submarines - due to be announced in 2014 - until after the election in 2015.
Source - Yahoo.
MPs on the influential Public Accounts Committee (PAC) have said the MoD agreed to sign up to the deal even though it had no idea whether or not it was getting value for money.
According to a PAC report, despite the vast cost the aircraft are not even equipped to fly on missions in Afghanistan.
To kit them out with sufficient protection for combat zones would cost the taxpayer hundreds of millions more.
The deal was struck as a Private Finance Initiative (PFI), which means a private company covers the initial cost and is then gradually reimbursed by the taxpayer - with a premium added on top.
PFI has been criticised in the past because although it allows infrastructure projects to be carried out quickly, it obliges the taxpayer to pay back much more than the initial cost for years - sometimes decades - to come.
Committee chair Margaret Hodge said: "It is simply astonishing that it took until 2006 to recognise that the new aircraft should be able to fly into high-threat environments like Afghanistan.
"Four years later, (the MoD) has still not decided whether to fit the necessary protective equipment... because of the implications this would have for the cost of the PFI."
It comes amid a growing row over the cost of the UK's nuclear capability.
Senior Tories have expressed alarm at reports that the Government could put off the final decision on whether to go ahead with the replacement of the four missile-carrying submarines - due to be announced in 2014 - until after the election in 2015.
Source - Yahoo.