Fife Council and the region’s chamber of commerce have written to the Scottish Secretary to voice their concern over the future of the aircraft carrier contract.
Chairman of the council’s environment, enterprise and transportation committee Councillor Tony Martin said the deal was vital for Rosyth Dockyard.
The Royal Navy gave the green light two years ago to the £5 billion project to build two new ships to replace its existing three aircraft carriers. However, when the Conservative/Lib-Dem coalition came into power defence secretary Liam Fox announced a review of the way the Ministry of Defence (MoD) spends its money.
As the government attempts to claw back the UK’s huge deficit it said every project on the MoD’s books would have to be looked at. This has led to mounting speculation that one, if not both, of the carriers will be axed even though work on the first of them is well under way.
The project secured thousands of jobs at yards across the UK, including Rosyth, where HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales will be assembled.
The MoD has refused to comment on speculation, but insists tough choices will have to be made as its budget is squeezed to the absolute limit.
Last week’s news that the MoD will have to fund the replacement for the Trident nuclear deterrent will not have helped either.
In his letter to Scottish secretary Michael Moore, who visited Rosyth Dockyard just last week, Mr Martin says, “I have been asked to write to you on behalf of Fife Council and the Fife Chamber of Commerce.
“There has been much speculation in the press, because of the ongoing defence review, as to the implication of that review for the contract to build the two new carriers needed by the Royal Navy.’Negative impact'”I realise that the Westminster Government have rightly decided to review all government spending and defence spending has to be part of that review. However, I would ask that you make the cabinet and the defence minister aware of the views of Fife Council and the wider business sector in Fife.”
He adds, “Any cancellation or delay in the aircraft carrier contract would have a significant negative impact on the economy in Fife.
“Local colleges have worked hard to ensure they are in a position to provide well-trained personnel to take advantage of the jobs that become available when work starts on the assembly of the crafts.
“Fife Council and Fife Chamber of Commerce have worked tirelessly to ensure local companies will benefit from the sub-contracting and other contracts that will come from this very important project.
“I am sure that you will want to do all in your power to make sure that Fife and Scotland are not disadvantaged by the defence spending review and that the United Kingdom has the capability needed in our conventional forces to meet the challenges that we will no doubt face in the future.”
At 65,000 tonnes each, the aircraft carriers are the largest warships ever ordered by the navy.
And the project has already had spin-offs for firms in Fife.
Rolls Royce at Dalgety Bay won a £13 million contract to provide part of the ships’ high-tech propulsion system and in Glenrothes Brand-Rex won a £13 million deal to supply fibre optic cable technology.