MPs warn that Armed Forces cuts are sapping morale

Morale is low in the Armed Forces and among civilian defence staff because of the scale of cuts and number of redundancies, MPs warned yesterday.
They say there is a danger more personnel will decide to leave of their own accord, as thousands of skilled West employees see their jobs vanish.
The Commons spending watchdog the Public Accounts Committee also criticises defence bosses for not knowing what skills will be needed in future.
There is a danger ever more public money will be trousered by expensive outside consultants.
The Western Daily Press has told how the Ministry of Defence is cutting its annual spending by 7.5 per cent in real terms by 2015.
It intends to make most of the savings by reducing civilian and military personnel by 29,000 and 25,000 respectively. Because the West has higher levels of defence personnel than anywhere else, it will be hit disproportionately hard.
The Government caused further problems by saying when it took office two years ago that there would be 42,000 redundancies, then increasing the number by 12,000.
Yesterday's report says: "Such changes make rational headcount planning very difficult."
The MPs say low morale is unsurprising and welcome the MoD's candour
"One impact of low morale is that more staff might choose to leave of their own accord, creating further skills shortages which may be costly in the long-term.
"The Department recognised this important issue and has committed to engage in a 'major programme of communications' as part of its transformation programme."
The PAC says cutting 54,000 jobs should provide �4.1 billion savings between 2011 and 2015, but the MoD had acted before finalising its new operating model.
The MPs also say spending on consultants soared from �6 million in 2006-07 to �270m last year.
Committee chairman Margaret Hodge said they recognised the MoD, led by former Defence Secretary Liam Fox, North Somerset MP, had to make tough financial decisions to plug a funding gap of �38bn over the next ten years.
"But we are concerned that these cuts have been determined by the need to cut costs in the short term rather than by considering the MoD's strategic objectives in the long term and the skills it will need to deliver them successfully."
Shadow Armed Forces Minister Kevan Jones said: "Ministers' decisions mean the MoD is losing key skills, morale is in freefall and taxpayers' money is being wasted."
Morale is low in the Armed Forces and among civilian defence staff because of the scale of cuts and number of redundancies, MPs warned yesterday.
They say there is a danger more personnel will decide to leave of their own accord, as thousands of skilled West employees see their jobs vanish.
The Commons spending watchdog the Public Accounts Committee also criticises defence bosses for not knowing what skills will be needed in future.
There is a danger ever more public money will be trousered by expensive outside consultants.
The Western Daily Press has told how the Ministry of Defence is cutting its annual spending by 7.5 per cent in real terms by 2015.
It intends to make most of the savings by reducing civilian and military personnel by 29,000 and 25,000 respectively. Because the West has higher levels of defence personnel than anywhere else, it will be hit disproportionately hard.
The Government caused further problems by saying when it took office two years ago that there would be 42,000 redundancies, then increasing the number by 12,000.
Yesterday's report says: "Such changes make rational headcount planning very difficult."
The MPs say low morale is unsurprising and welcome the MoD's candour
"One impact of low morale is that more staff might choose to leave of their own accord, creating further skills shortages which may be costly in the long-term.
"The Department recognised this important issue and has committed to engage in a 'major programme of communications' as part of its transformation programme."
The PAC says cutting 54,000 jobs should provide �4.1 billion savings between 2011 and 2015, but the MoD had acted before finalising its new operating model.
The MPs also say spending on consultants soared from �6 million in 2006-07 to �270m last year.
Committee chairman Margaret Hodge said they recognised the MoD, led by former Defence Secretary Liam Fox, North Somerset MP, had to make tough financial decisions to plug a funding gap of �38bn over the next ten years.
"But we are concerned that these cuts have been determined by the need to cut costs in the short term rather than by considering the MoD's strategic objectives in the long term and the skills it will need to deliver them successfully."
Shadow Armed Forces Minister Kevan Jones said: "Ministers' decisions mean the MoD is losing key skills, morale is in freefall and taxpayers' money is being wasted."

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