The Soteria Consortium was announced as the preferred bidder to provide search and rescue services using a new fleet of Sikorsky S92 helicopters to replace the ageing Royal Navy Sea Kings which are currently operated out of 12 UK bases by the Ministry of Defence and the coastguard.
It emerged last night that the consortium plans to move the search and rescue facilities based at HMS Gannet at Prestwick Airport in Ayrshire to Glasgow Airport when it takes over the contract in 2012.
More than 100 staff are currently based at HMS Gannet and The Herald understands that if the move goes ahead, any search and rescue jobs are likely to be transferred to the new base under the contract, which is worth £6bn over 25 years.
But Ian Fraser, Scotland West Branch Secretary of the PCS union, said the union had not been informed of the proposals, which he claimed would put the future of the Ayrshire base under jeopardy.
“This is a kick in the teeth to the work force at Prestwick,” he said.
HMS Gannet, which has been based at Prestwick since 1971, covers an area of almost 100,000 square miles, stretching from Ben Nevis in the north to the Lake District in the south, and from Edinburgh in the east to 200 miles off the coast of Northern Ireland.
Under the new contract, expected to be awarded later this year, Soteria will be responsible for ensuring all emergencies in the UK are reached within an hour.
The consortium – made up of Thales UK, the Royal Bank of Scotland and helicopter operator CHC –will also be obliged to maintain 12 bases, although a spokesman for Thales UK confirmed last night the proposal to move the Prestwick base to Glasgow. He said that, under the plan, those who currently work in search and rescue at Prestwick would be transferred to Glasgow airport.
The number of aircraft in use is also expected to fall from 40 to 24, but Defence Minister Quentin Davies rejected suggestions that handing responsibility for the service to a private firm would jeopardise safety.
“A smaller number of helicopters will do the trick,” he said. “Sea Kings ... do have a poor history of availability so we will gain there.”
The minister said flying search-and-rescue missions provided “valuable expertise” for military air crew, and they would continue to work in the service alongside civilian aircrew.
Mr Davies added the Government’s motivation had been to safeguard the service, rather than cost-cutting.
“This was not driven by a cost saving agenda,” Mr Davies said. “We needed to replace the SAR (Search and Rescue). We could not go on using the existing helicopters indefinitely.”
But shadow defence secretary Liam Fox said: “We are not opposed to the principle of contracting out, part of the service already is, but we are deeply concerned that a project of this importance and magnitude should be rushed through in the teeth of a General Election.
“Given the Government’s record on PFIs, and its performance on helicopter contracts especially, we will want, if elected, to look at the fine details of the contract. One key area is the levels of penalties – and the let-outs – for performance failure. Lives are at stake.”
SNP defence spokesman Angus Robertson added: “I have always been sceptical of Labour’s plan to privatise all search and rescue cover.
“With a lack of transparency about the detailed PFI plans we need an assurance that no deal will be signed off until after the forthcoming UK General Election.” Iain Cochrane, chief executive of Prestwick Airport, said last night: “We have had no formal notification of any change to the current arrangements with the MoD. As far as we are concerned it is business as usual until we are informed otherwise.”
He added: “It is not a large part of our business activities, although it has been a very effective partnership between MoD and Prestwick Airport for a long time.”
