§ Lord Hill-Norton asked Her Majesty's Government:
§ What progress has been made in establishing the inquiry into hull forms for frigates and destroyers for the Royal Navy.
123WA§ The Minister of State for Defence Procurement (Lord Trefgarne)I am pleased to confirm the announcement I made earlier today that Lloyd's Register of Shipping have agreed to conduct the inquiry into hull forms for frigates and destroyers for the Royal Navy, under the chairmanship of Mr. H. R. MacLeod. The terms of reference that have now been agreed are: "To consider the advantages and disadvantages of the S90 hull for the purposes of meeting the Naval124WA Staff Requirement (NSR 7069) for an antisubmarine frigate (in so far as the current state of the development of the S90 permits), taking account of independent assessments made in 1983 by YARD and by the Marine Technology Board of the Defence Scientific Advisory Council, and of the Hill-Norton Committee Report Hull Forms for Warships, published in May 1986, and to identify any implications for the design of future destroyers and frigates for the RN".