BBC NEWS An aviation repair project ended up costing the taxpayer £113m and failed to deliver thousands of jobs, an official investigation has found.
Project Red Dragon at St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan, floundered when the Ministry of Defence (MoD) decided to switch work to other RAF bases.
The report by the National Audit Office and the Wales Audit Office criticises both the MoD and Welsh authorities.
But ministers said the move had saved money and "offered better support".
Lessons had been learned from the project, Defence Minister Quentin Davis said.
"However, the decisions taken in 2004 to transfer fast jet repair work to RAF frontline bases from St Athan resulted in savings worth more than £1.4bn," Mr Davis added.
The Red Dragon project was started in 2000, aimed at modernising ageing MoD facilities at St Athan along with the construction of a super hangar for fast jet repair.
It also saw an aerospace business park built, backed by the then Welsh Development Agency, which is now part of the assembly government.
The main tenant for the new super hangar was to be the Defence Aviation Repair Agency - DARA.
But in 2005, UK ministers announced they were closing the fast jet business at St Athan, with the loss of hundreds of jobs.
In addition, the auditors report published on Friday found that instead of creating up to 4,000 new jobs over a 15 year period, so far only 45 new posts have come to the site.
Nice one Gordon, millions wasted on a “Super Hangar” while our boys were dying in Iraq because they didn’t have the body armour they needed.
“Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense.” Gertrude Stein
Angus
Angus Dei on all and sundry
NHS Behind the headlines
NHS-THE OTHER SIDE
Project Red Dragon at St Athan in the Vale of Glamorgan, floundered when the Ministry of Defence (MoD) decided to switch work to other RAF bases.
The report by the National Audit Office and the Wales Audit Office criticises both the MoD and Welsh authorities.
But ministers said the move had saved money and "offered better support".
Lessons had been learned from the project, Defence Minister Quentin Davis said.
"However, the decisions taken in 2004 to transfer fast jet repair work to RAF frontline bases from St Athan resulted in savings worth more than £1.4bn," Mr Davis added.
The Red Dragon project was started in 2000, aimed at modernising ageing MoD facilities at St Athan along with the construction of a super hangar for fast jet repair.
It also saw an aerospace business park built, backed by the then Welsh Development Agency, which is now part of the assembly government.
The main tenant for the new super hangar was to be the Defence Aviation Repair Agency - DARA.
But in 2005, UK ministers announced they were closing the fast jet business at St Athan, with the loss of hundreds of jobs.
In addition, the auditors report published on Friday found that instead of creating up to 4,000 new jobs over a 15 year period, so far only 45 new posts have come to the site.
Nice one Gordon, millions wasted on a “Super Hangar” while our boys were dying in Iraq because they didn’t have the body armour they needed.
“Everybody gets so much information all day long that they lose their common sense.” Gertrude Stein
Angus
Angus Dei on all and sundry
NHS Behind the headlines
NHS-THE OTHER SIDE
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