Faslane is the second largest single-site employer in Scotland, after the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in Glasgow.
Faslane is one of the Royal Navy’s three main operating bases, alongside HMNB Devonport and HMNB Portsmouth. It is best known as the home of the UK’s four Vanguard-class nuclear-armed submarines which carry Trident II D-5 ballistic missiles.
Figures released by the Ministry of Defence detailed how many civilian jobs at Faslane and Coulport are directly dependent on Trident. A Freedom of Information request sought out the size of the civilian workforce driectly relying on Trident, the MoD responded:
“There are 520 civilian jobs at HM Naval Base Clyde, including Coulport and Faslane, that directly rely upon the Trident programme.”
It’s important to remember that the 520 jobs mentioned are civilians and strictly those working on Trident missiles.
However, the base does not just support Trident armed submarines. In addition to the nuclear submarines, the base is home to 10 conventional surface vessels of the Sandown class mine countermeasure and Archer class patrol vessel fleets.
The Ministry of Defence also state that the number of people supporting the entire Trident programme, including the submarines on which the weapon is based, is around 6,500 jobs. According to a statement from the Ministry of Defence, around 3,500 are uniformed Royal Navy personnel, 1,700 are contractors and 1,600 are “other civilian employees”.
All 11 Royal Navy submarines will be based on the Clyde at Faslane from 2020, seeing the number of people directly employed at the base rising to 8,200. It is also understood that Scotlands ‘share’ of Trident is around £163 million a year and the annual spend generated by the base in the local area and the wider region is estimated to be more than £270 million per year, this includes spending by the 6,500 personnel based at Faslane in the local economy.
The number of jobs directly and indirectly supported by Faslane is just under 11,000; this comes from the 6,500 military and civilian personnel employed at HMNB Clyde and a further 4,000 created through the supply chain and the local economy according to an EKOS report commissioned by Scottish Enterprise Dunbartonshire.
Add that to the disproportionate funding through the Barnett formula. Nicola Sturgeon can keep her independence dreams firmly on the back shelf gathering dust.
Yes, she can have independence but we want her to pay back that funding, pay to relocate the P-8s and the whole submarine fleet to the south, take the shipbuilding back too the south. Conservative estimates put the cost of this somewhere in the region of £200BN in total.
Unless her precious independence voters want to 98p in the pound tax, she had better sit down, unless she would prefer to tell there Scottish people the true state of affairs in the world.
Oh dear.
dadsarmy – yes I know the truth hurts sometimes. Sorry for your pain. And here is some more. When will dear Nicola stop sending us the Scots overdraft bill of £15 Bn a year?
Bang on.
Rob et al
FYI: Just a wee update on Scotland ………..
Nicola Sturgeon does not speak for the majority of Scots; she is not even particularly popular – indeed is a rather divisive figure in Scotland. Recent SNP majorities have resulted because the majority unionist vote was split between the three main parties. In this year’s general election, Scottish unionists finally discovered the joys of tactical voting – hence the decline in SNP fortunes!
Myself and fellow Scots are only too aware of the “current state of the world”. Scottish people make a great contribution to this union, and receive corresponding benefits back in return. That’s how it’s meant to work!
If we choose to do so, Scotland would be a viable independent country, with world-class industries. But if independent would need to make economic adjustments – it certainly would not be the land of “milk and honey” advocated by Sturgeon or Salmond. But we stay in the union, however, not only for economic reasons, but because we have an emotional attachment to the UK, our shared history, and the decent, funny and honourable people we share these islands with.
So you must all stop acting like a bunch of offended jilted lovers – and remove the rather intolerant tone that sometimes mars this forum.
Incidentally, DadsArmy is a great contributor to this site – I always enjoy reading his provocative and entertaining posts. You should too – and stop the tartan terror winding you all up!
I so hope you are right. The union is important to me, and so much of my British side is Scots. We are better as a United Kingdom!
There’s a lot of rhetoric Alan, and amongst the mud slung by both sides, people lose sight of the 90% or even 95% who are not activists in any way. They’ll vote, and largely that’s an end to it. Meanwhile many of the activists are too polarised, and with little respect for the point of view of the “other side”. It’s either “cult” or “cowards”. Well, boo to that nonsense. Whichever way it turns out, luckily that 90%+ will just want it to work out, and as you say, Scotland is viable and with world-class industries – whether independent or as part of the union.
The other side is relations with the rest of the UK, and that too is important – whichever way it turns out. We’re neighbours, and personally speaking I’ve no intention of donning sword and shield and going off to fight the English, Welsh or Irish. Tally ho! Ho hum. People from the rest of the UK will come to Scotland for what we have to offer, hills, water, whisky, festival, and people from Scotland will visit London for the theatres, sights, Blackpool for illuminations, Wales for rugby, NI for the craic.
From the economy point of view we trade with each other, and for defence, a weak Scotland isn’t much good for the rest of the UK, leaves the back door open – same for the rUK though that’s less possible as long as they keep Albion and Bulwark 🙂
The media of course likes to stir it up, makes a story I guess, get a few clicks. Bless.
This aged well😂
Oh my goodness. We did not ask for them to be placed here. Not our problem so will not pay to relocate them. We have been subsidising England for decades with our oil. You talk so much shite you should have a roll of andrews wired to your chin to clean up after you speak.
Well that is the most stupid argument ever. Does that mean the rest of the UK will refund Scotland for everything contributed through taxes, oil incomes, men spent in wars declared by the UK? Off course not that would be as stupid as what you are saying.
Okey doke, wasn’t going to comment, but others did. The first angle on Faslane as an employer, even within the Union, is the CND angle. Hardcore this isn’t just the SSBNs but SSNs as well as they’re nuclear powered, though some don’t seem to know the difference. In the unlikely event of the subs just moving away, that’s a straight loss of employment and economic activity.
The Independence angle is easier. Firstly it’ll take 10 years for the “nukes” to move away, unless some work is already underway like moving the SSNs out of Devenport to allow “refurbishment”. So while the SSNs can move in a reasonably short time once located at Faslane, the SSBNs will still be there, so will the base, so will Coulport. Meanwhile after incredibly amicable negotiations between the rUK Government and the Scottish Government, similar to Brexit, the SDF (Scottish Defence Force – or Farce as some extreme posters might call it) starts to move its navy in. So in that timespace, that overlap, it’s almost certain employment will rise dramatically, 50% or more, with construction and two sets of base personnel. Yes, that’ll be fun, cohabiting. Just don’t mention football.
So the period to look at is after the rUK has moved all its bits and pieces out of Faslane and Coulport. So long and thanks for all the whisky and deep fried mars bars.
Current total complement of vessels – 800, minus 2 Sandown whose homeport is Faslane but are on 3 year shifts in Bahrain, but hey, we’ll count them anyway. Add Astute at 700 – total 1500. But by 2025 minus 3 Sandown so down to 1400. Total tonnage around 165,000, subs are big hefty boats. Total vessel area which is a bit of a meaningless figure (LxB) = 20,000 square metres.
A fairly minimal SDF navy part of Scotland’s military would give a figure of 1,150 complement and 68,000 tonnes with an LxB of 30,000 however. But like all fantasy fleet owners, there’s stuff I haven’t included so let’s throw in another 50 SN uniforms for a total of 1,200, though I have decided that the dredgers, pilots and tugs would be about the same and have ignored them.
So basically you’re talking about 14% less complement, but 20 vessels instead of 21. So taking into account that the base is still the base, supplies are still supplies, guards, gardeners, decorators, concessions on base, accomodation and cleaners. you’d see at most a 10% drop using complement (crew) and vessels as a basis, probably less.
But I haven’t included marines, a training school, and having the army with its amphibs there, plus it’s a postulated HQ which we don’t currently have at all in Scotland, why not after all, it was considered a naturally protected base for Polaris, and you’re looking at a dramatic increase in employment and economic activity, in West Dunbartonshire.
“Total tonnage around 165,000,”
Oops, make that 120,000.
You go for it Dads, they asked for it!
What a pipped dreamland dadsarmy lives in.
There is absolutely no way any of those dreams are going to become reality.
an independent Scotland will be a basket case unfortunately, rolling up debts of £15-20 billion per year on top of ALL the costs lumped on them for independence £200-300 billion a year + a proportionate share of the UK sovereign debt. There is no way Scotland will be allowed to leave the uk without taking on responsibility for its fair share of this debt.
Faslane will close, all subs will move to Wales or south west England. All shipbuilding will go back to English yards.
good luck with all that!
Scotland services 10%of all British debt at the moment and has been doing this for a long time.I do not think Scotland will be a basket case when it signs out of its Treaty with England.I do not know why English people like you hate the Scots so much and wish them ill, when all they want is to run their own country again.
If that was the case, why do the Westminster government want Scotland to remain part of the UK. Lets face it, the Tories wouldn’t even subsidise a spare bedroom never mind a country
The cost is only maintenance costs, not new build subs which are due. So the cost to Scotland’s will be very inaccurate…add another 100 million/year.