§ Mr. Banksasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list details of shipbuilding contracts which have been deferred since the present Government took office.
Ship Planned order date when tender invited
Contract placed Seventh Type 42 Destroyer (HMS "Exeter") October 1975 January 1976 Eighth Type 42 Destroyer October 1975 March 1976 Second Type 22 Frigate (HMS "Battleaxe") July 1975 September 1975 Sixth Swiftsure Class Fleet Submarine Late 1974 May 1976 Mine Counter-measures Vessel (HMS "Brecon") End 1974 April 1975 The ninth Type 42 destroyer, currently under tender, is expected to be ordered early in the new year instead of in the autumn of this year. Shipbuilders' capacity, industrial considerations, the course of the contract negotiations themselves, and the effective management of the warshipbuilding programme as a whole, are all factors which may result in contracts being placed later than anticipated.
§ Mr. Banksasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the ships which have been deleted from the defence programme as it was in February 1974.
§ Dr. GilbertNine destroyers/frigates, two amphibious ships, one fleet maintenance ship, three large fleet tankers and one support ship, as announced in the 1975 defence White Paper, Command 5976.