Defence College gets the go-ahead

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

The Vale of Glamorgan Council has given the go ahead for the Defence Technical College (DTC) to be created at St Athan in what is the biggest ever PFI deal.

Billed as "nationally important", the college build will involve the redevelopment of a large part of the 1000 acre St Athan site, which is home to the RAF 4 School of Technical Training. The DTC is intended to bring together technical training for all three services, creating the largest vocational training operation in the country, with 3000 students attending.

Metrix, the consortium behind the DTC, is led by technology services company QinetiQ and facilities management specialist Sodexo.

A spokesman for Metrix told publicservantdaily that this news on the DTC follows a series of announcements – including a £31m training contract awarded to Metrix in August by the Ministry of Defence and the MoD meeting the costs of preparing the development of the site – that move the company "several steps closer to overall contract signature next year".

He stressed that the £12bn cost of delivering training and site services at the DTC over 25 years is money that the MoD already spends annually anyway. "It is therefore committed money, not new money," he said. "By consolidating nine sites into one, and by future-proofing the training delivery, the MoD will inevitably save money." The figure is reckoned to be around £1bn.

Metrix chairman Charles Barrington said of the announcement: "This is exciting news for the MoD, for Metrix and for the people of South Wales. It is truly a win-win situation for all the stakeholders involved in this nationally important project. This decision is a huge step forward in our plans to reach contract agreement with the MoD in 2010."

The managing director of Metrix Property, Duncan MacRae, commented: "The DTC is a high quality living and learning environment which will see the delivery of vital technical skills training across all three Services. The DTC will reinforce links and opportunities with the wider community of St Athan and beyond."