Sir Geoffrey Clifton-Brown, Member of Parliament for The Cotswolds, this week challenged the Ministry of Defence to halt Serco’s judicial review of the Defence Fire and Rescue Project (DFRP) contract awarded to Capita.

The DFRP contract worth £400 million, 12-year contract was originally awarded to Capita by the MoD in June 2018. Sir Geoffrey was instrumental in this decision as it will bring welcome investment to the Fire Service College in Moreton-in-Marsh. This will secure much needed jobs in the Moreton-in-Marsh area and help to secure a good long-term future for the Fire Service College.

Sir Geoffrey, as Deputy Chairman of the Public Accounts Committee, was speaking during the Committee’s inquiry into Capita’s contract with the Ministry of Defence. 

Serco made an application for a judicial review of the DFRP contract following a meeting the Sir Geoffrey had with the Cabinet Office where it was established that it could take up to three years to resolve this matter. This will severely delay investment and jobs for the Fire Service College in the Cotswolds.

Sir Geoffrey’s remarks to Stephen Lovegrove, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Defence were as follows: 

“Serco have currently issued a judicial review into the way that you let the contract. My constituents, who are owned by Capita, are desperate to get on with this contract. It costs them a great deal of money every single month that they are not operating it.

“Given that Serco are a large Government contractor, and given that I think they are using this purely as a spoiler because of sour grapes because they did not get the contract, is there not something more the Government collectively can do to persuade Serco that their actions are wholly unreasonable.