§ Mr. Gordon Wilsonasked the Secretary of Stale for Defence what is the anticipated cost of refitting the present Polaris submarines at Rosyth dockyard.
§ Mr. PattieThe latest available estimated cost of refitting the present Polaris submarine at Rosyth, HMS "Revenge", is £96 million. This represents the dockyard 251W total production cost and includes an appropriate allocation of all dockyard and Ministry of Defence headquarters' overhead expenses.
The estimate does not allow the effects of this year's non-industrial Civil Service dispute; and some increase in costs, on this account, and to allow for wage and price inflation, is inevitable. It will be several weeks before a more accurate forecast is available because of delays in the receipt of computer data, also due to the recent industrial action by civil servants.