Full Report - National Audit Office

part three3.9 Appointed prime contractors will have overall singlepoint responsibility for the management and deliveryof a project, or provision of an integrated estate serviceincluding some new assets (those up to a pre-agreed valueand type) and maintenance of the existing infrastructure.The prime contractor will also co-ordinate and integratethe activities of his pre-appointed supply chain to meet theservice delivery specification, efficiently, economically,innovatively and on time, with a recognition of the militaryand other needs of the Department. The Regional PrimeContract Scotland, for example, will provide for capitalworks and property maintenance services respectivelyat 17 Establishments, covering 174 secondary sites witha total of 9,250 buildings or facilities. This contract alsohas, exceptionally, a large construction project on theClyde costing over £100 million to provide 1,700 singleliving accommodation units together with associatedinfrastructure, catering and recreational facilities.3.10 Defence Estates aspires to deliver 30 per centthrough-life value for money efficiencies, in terms ofquality improvements, for the same or less resource inputthrough the five Regional Prime Contracts by 2009-10.Defence Estates has an interim target of 3 per cent in2005-06 and will be measuring progress through its valuefor money model.Project Aquatrine3.11 Project Aquatrine will transfer the responsibilityfor the maintenance and operation of the Department’ssewage works, water processing plants and water mains,sewers and drains that are outside buildings, removalof surface water and water supply for fire fighting usein order to place the responsibility of managing thoserisks with those best placed to do so. The Project will bedelivered through three separate contracts which are beingnegotiated separately (Figure 7).Single Living Accommodation Modernisation Project3.12 At the Defence Estate Conference, on the14 March 2001, the Secretary of State for Defenceannounced an additional £1 billion of new funding overthe next 10 years for raising the standard of single livingaccommodation. This requirement is being delivered inpart by the Single Living Accommodation ModernisationProject, or Project SLAM. It was expected that this projectalone would deliver around 10,000 bed-spaces in the firstfive year phase with a similar number in the second fiveyear phase.3.13 The prime contract is based on an initial five-yearprogramme of work in Great Britain (Phase 1), followingwhich the Department has an option to extend by afurther five years, subject to the satisfactory performanceof the contractor, and the achievement of cost and timerequirements. The aim is to upgrade, progressively, by 2013,the worst Single Living Accommodation to the physicalcondition deemed appropriate to provide Servicemenand women with the quality of living accommodationthey deserve. In 2001, over three-quarters of single livingaccommodation was below the required standard. Indeed,four per cent was so poor that personnel were only chargedfor utilities. The contract was awarded on 18 December2002 to DEBUT services, a Birmingham based consortiumled by Bovis Lend Lease and Babcock Support Services.As at 31 December 2004, 1,189 bed spaces had beencompleted; 3,910 were under construction and another2,376 in design and development.7Project AquatrineAquatrine will be let in three packages as part of onecoherent package.Package AOn 20 May 2003, the Department announced that Yorkshirebasedconsortium BREY Utilities, comprising Yorkshire Water,Earth Tech Engineering Ltd and KBR (Kellogg Brown & Root)had been awarded the first Project Aquatrine contract for‘Package A’ (covering the Midlands, Wales and South WestEngland). The contract went live on 1 December 2003.Package BPackage B (Scotland), the second of three contracts wasawarded to Thames Water Nevis Ltd, a wholly ownedsubsidiary of Thames Water whose major partner will beScottish Water. The contract was signed in September 2004and will commence services in March 2005.Package COn 11 November 2003, the Department announced thatthe C2C Consortium comprising Severn Trent Water Servicesplc and Costain Engineering and Construction Ltd, had beenawarded the Preferred Bidder status for Package C (North andEast of England), the third Contract to be awarded. The contractwas signed in October 2004 with the package go-live dueMarch 2005.Source: Ministry of DefenceMINISTRY OF DEFENCE: MANAGING THE DEFENCE ESTATE19