AN attempt to try and guarantee some work for redundancy-threatened Rosyth naval base staff looks set to fail because the crew of a Royal Navy ship don’t want to come to Scotland.
The news has emerged a week after the Rosyth operators Babcock warned that they will have to lay off 250 workers following the closure of the main construction phase of the aircraft carriers HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales.
Babcock, who also operate the Devonport naval base dockyard, have indicated that transferring the already agreed overhaul of the Royal Navy’s only survey vessel HMS Scott to Rosyth is possible, and trade union Prospect say this could help save some jobs at the Fife facility.
Devonport has a fairly full order book, said the union, but the Ministry of Defence (MoD) has plumped for Devonport or Falmouth, both on the south coast of England.
Prospect said: “It appears that the MoD) wishes the work to be carried out at Devonport or Falmouth on the basis of the crew’s choice not to have to travel to Rosyth, despite the fact that it’s likely the work would be completed quicker in Rosyth than on the south coast.”
Richard Hardy, Prospect national secretary for Scotland, said: “On behalf of those members facing a bleak Christmas at the risk of redundancy, Prospect is more than disappointed at this decision by the MoD, which seems to be based on crew convenience, rather than any sensible economic or workload metrics.”
According to Prospect, Babcock is also bidding for a major package of work overhauling the Navy’s fleet of Type 45 destroyers, which will provide a substantial amount of work for a number of years. If done at Rosyth, where it could be done quicker than at other yards, this package of work could also help offset the current redundancy crisis.
At the time the redundancies were announced Hardy said: We really need the Ministry of Defence to step up to the plate and start the procurement process for both refitting work for the Type 45 destroyers and the new Type 31e frigates.”
As of yesterday, no such process had started, and it is likely to be some months before the contract is awarded and work can start on the six guided missile destroyers which were mostly built at BAE systems yards at Govan and Scotstoun.
The Type 45 has been plagued with engine problems and Rosyth sources say the Babcock yard is ideally placed to do the required overhauls.
Hardy said yesterday: “Any work coming into Rosyth will help stave off job losses. HMS Scott will help, but the award of the Type 45 contract is a vital piece of the jigsaw in offsetting redundancies and securing the future of the yard.
“This is a strategic workforce and the other yards competing have much fuller order books than Rosyth, so it makes sense to award the work to Rosyth. We’re working positively with the senior team at Babcock and we will now start to lobby on this issue with our contacts in MoD, in Westminster and at Holyrood.”
The MoD had not responded by the time The National went to press.
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