Trading bases for a better naval estate
1 Oct 09
The Maritime Change Programme is the latest tide of change to sweep the Navy. It will leave a naval estate that is more rational, efficient and suitably equipped to provide Navy personnel and their families with a better quality of life. Rhian Williams interviewed Vice Admiral Sir Alan Massey, the Second Sea Lord.
An aerial view of Whale Island, HM Naval Base Portsmouth
[Picture: PO(Phot) Paul A'Barrow, Crown Copyright/MOD 2005]
In July 2007 the Naval Base Review (NBR) concluded that the three naval bases - Devonport, Portsmouth and Clyde - should be retained yet optimised. The naval bases should exist to support the Royal Navy's front line and they needed the appropriate level of infrastructure to meet the needs of the future Fleet; no more and no less.
The Maritime Change Programme (MCP) was established in October 2007 to see through the recommendations of the NBR and in May 2009 the then Armed Forces Minister Bob Ainsworth announced a series of decisions that mark a step change in the way the Navy will conduct business in the future.
Vice Admiral Sir Alan Massey explained:
"The idea was to develop centres of excellence for particular types of naval capability. It makes a lot of sense to have all of your operational submarines running out of one base, and all of your amphibious ships running out of another, and at least the majority of your destroyers and frigates based in another still."
The restructuring project is expected to save hundreds of millions of pounds over a 15-year period:
"What we are doing with the MCP is cutting our cloth in a way that maintains or improves all the operational output at reduced funding input. It's classic efficiency. Where we save money, it will be ploughed back into improved capabilities and support."
But a more cost-effective estate is not the only benefit that this huge programme of work will wash up. For Vice Admiral Massey, the impact on people is equally as important:
Vice Admiral Sir Alan Massey practising what he preaches regarding adventure training
[Picture: Crown Copyright/MOD 2009]
"We will have the right capabilities in the right places. This will assist operational effectiveness in the first instance but will also help our people and our families."
One key change that the MCP will bring for Navy personnel is a less transient lifestyle. Post-MCP they will, if they choose, be broadly based at one location for the majority of their careers:
"All of our surveys tell us that people yearn for greater stability. A family wants to know whether they are going to be Plymouth-based or Portsmouth-based or Faslane-based. They can then decide to put down roots there - or indeed decide not to put down roots there - but at least they know that's where they are likely to be based for most of their career. We see that as a fundamental part of capability. It is not just about hardware; it's also about the software of people."
This firm commitment to people also inspired the Navy Board's decision to leave a minimum of five years between the announcement in May and moving personnel:
"We have found in the past that our people have been frustrated, not because of the nature and substance of decisions, but because they have had little time to plan their lives around them."
Whilst Navy families may have time on their side, work on transforming the infrastructure at Portsmouth, Plymouth and Clyde will have to be a little quicker off the mark.
Not only will appropriate dockyard maintenance, accommodation, technical and training infrastructure need to be established, but Vice Admiral Massey has also set his sights on exploiting this major estate reshuffle as an opportunity to improve the recreational facilities available to sailors and their families:
"The personnel infrastructure, things like messes, swimming pools and bowling alleys are absolutely fundamental. They give opportunities for people to do sport and adventure training which are, I think, fantastically important in the sort of Service that we are; one that requires physical fitness and mental fortitude."
Defence Estates (DE) is charged with delivering the colossal amount of estate development work that is needed to enable the three key naval sites to perform the roles the MCP sets out for them:
New jetty being floated past new accommodation at HM Naval Base Clyde
[Picture: Crown Copyright/MOD 2009]
"DE is absolutely fundamental. It is often at the rough end of people's impatience, but we'd struggle hugely without the professional support and expertise that they bring in planning, construction and in interfacing with the thousands of contractors out there and the thousands of competing interests."
But he is under no illusion that this massive programme of redevelopment will be easy:
"This is a long game, and it's going to be complex, and it's going to be quite expensive. What we want is partnership behaviours from both sides that will weather the rough bits and will deliver what both parties want at the end."
Then, of course, there's housing. A significant amount of Navy families are expected to have to relocate once the MCP is in full swing and the amount of Service Families Accommodation (SFA) at sites such as Faslane may need to increase.
But it's not just about quantity; quality is equally as important to Vice Admiral Massey:
"It will be about things like how do you make married quarters in Faslane perhaps a little more attractive than they are at the moment? And how can you do that within budget? It's easy for us to say as customers, well I want 100%. Then you [DE] will come back and say but I've only got 10% funding."
He admits there is no quick fix on this front, but is determined to work with DE to get the best deal possible for Navy families - and there's a good reason why:
"We ask our people to spend 60% of their time away from home; that's the most demanding separation of all three Services.
"I want them to feel they can go away safe in the knowledge they cannot be doing better for their families."
Vice Admiral Massey has already seen the difference that good accommodation can make:
"I've seen SLAM [DE's Single Living Accommodation Modernisation project], I've seen new SFA, I've seen upgraded SFA in the UK and Gibraltar, and the finished product is impressive.
"To me it's simple. People will do anything for you as long as they think that you value them. The sort of accommodation you give them has a huge part to play in that. And people also like to take care of it; that's the other side of the coin."
Women aboard HMS Invincible during the carrier's visit to Barcelona
[Picture: LA(Phot) Matt Ellison, Crown Copyright/MOD 2004]
Whilst new accommodation may be hitting the bar - and Vice Admiral Massey has high standards - there is always room for improvement:
"If there is one thing I would improve about DE it would be the two-way flow of information and communication. Constant information flow is such an important thing, particularly at the tactical, personal level.
"Families take it very personally if they find that the upgrade on the quarter they were waiting for isn't going to happen. That's frustrating. But it all comes back to this business about information flow; the informed customer is happier than the one that feels forgotten, even if the message is bad news."
With a personal goal to do something every day that makes the Navy better, Vice Admiral Massey need only cast his eye over the naval estate to see that marked improvements are being made.
Faslane boasts a new jetty that provides berthing for the maintenance and repair of submarines. Just a stone's throw away there are 1,758 new single living bed spaces, constructed by DE under Project Neptune.
New Single Living Accommodation has recently made its mark at HMS Raleigh, Nelson, and Collingwood. At Lee-on-the-Solent Navy families are enjoying new SFA which Vice Admiral Massey describes as 'fantastic'. At Royal Marines Base Chivenor new state-of-the-art mechanical transport and armoury facilities have improved the working life of Marines based at the site:
"To get Royal Marines that enthusiastic about a piece of estate is a real feat," he said.
Vice Admiral Massey does not underestimate the impact that projects like these have on the professional capability of the Navy, but he admits these large success stories can make the pace of delivery even more frustrating:
"Clearly, everyone wants everything done today. The reality is that DE's budget is constrained and every now and again it gets raided the same as everyone else's does. It doesn't reduce the quality of the output - the contract management by DE is superb - it just means that things get strung out."
So will the 2014 maritime map have what it takes to keep the Navy afloat over years to come?
HMS Montrose at HM Naval Base Devonport
[Picture: Crown Copyright/MOD 2001]
"There's always going to be scope for making adjustments here or there in order to achieve the main goal - the best possible operational effectiveness, for the least possible money."
Vice Admiral Massey knows that the tide will always be changing:
"We may have to face these sorts of challenges again in the future, but never, for as long as I have a vote in it, never at the expense of people."
Further information
The Maritime Change Programme will ensure that the Royal Navy has the best infrastructure in place to support its ships, submarines and new aircraft carriers. The principal changes are:
- Faslane Naval Base will become the dedicated home for the Royal Navy's fleet of nuclear-powered submarines - including the Future Deterrent - with the last attack submarine leaving Devonport in around 2017 on current plans.
- The first and most complex war-fighting variant of the Royal Navy's planned next generation of frigates, named the Future Surface Combatant, will be based in Portsmouth from entry into service to maximise the benefits of basing them alongside the Type 45 destroyers and aircraft carriers.
- Devonport is the dedicated home of the Amphibious Fleet and Survey Vessels and, subject to final approval, a force of Royal Marines' Landing Craft and the associated Marines personnel will transfer there. It will retain its world-class sea training capability, Flag Officer Sea Training.
- Subject to commercial negotiations, the majority of surface ship major refits will go to Devonport once work on the Queen Elizabeth Class aircraft carriers starts to increase. Some major refit work will occasionally be done at Portsmouth to retain skills.
This article is taken from the Autumn 2009 edition of Estatement magazine - Delivering Estate solutions to Defence needs.