Dara repairs and maintains RAF aircraft at St Athan

Armed Forces Minister Adam Ingram said moving work from the Defence Aviation Repair Agency (Dara) to a Norfolk RAF base would be better value for money.

The plans to cut jobs at Dara were first announced in September.

Vale of Glamorgan MP John Smith said in a House of Commons debate on Tuesday that the decision was "wrong in principle and wrong in practice".

Dara, which is a civilian arm of the Ministry of Defence, was set up to cut the costs of maintaining and repairing the UK's military aircraft.

It will turn out to be bad news for the military, the RAF in particular, and bad news for the British taxpayer John Smith MP

It has four sites in the UK, including RAF Sealand in north Wales, but more than half of its 3,800 aviation engineers are based alongside the RAF base at St Athan.

Mr Ingram told the Commons he was conscious that the decision to cut jobs at Dara had "adverse effects" for RAF St Athan, but said it was essential to streamline the way aircraft were maintained.

He said: "We are not satisfying civilian jobs to protect RAF personnel."

The Government is set to take a final decision on the job cuts, after consultation, within days.

Labour MP Mr Smith, who led the Commons debate, said, "This decision is wrong in principle and wrong in practice.

"It will turn out to be bad news for the military, the RAF in particular, and bad news for the British taxpayer."

Mr Smith said costs would spiral out of control under the new arrangements and the taxpayer would end up paying more.

He added it was "the economics of the madhouse" to expect the RAF to carry out the maintenance work.

Mr Smith said �18m of taxpayers' money had been invested on building a giant hangar at St Athan to carry out maintenance work, some of which is now to be transferred elsewhere.

Mr Smith said he had asked the Auditor General to investigate the financial issues.

He also warned that Project Red Dragon, between the MoD and the Welsh Development Agency, was in danger as a result of the cuts.

Project Red Dragon aims to develop a world-class aviation centre, centring on Dara at RAF St Athan.

MPs on the Commons Defence Select committee are due to investigate the decision to cut jobs at Dara later this month as part of a larger inquiry into future capabilities at RAF sites.