Trident Acquisition Programme (Hansard, 3 July 2002)

§ Mr. Hoon

The current estimate of the total acquisition cost of the Trident programme, with payments already made expressed at the prices and exchange rates actually incurred and future spend at the current financial year rate (the hybrid) estimate, is now £9,800 million. Since the 2001 estimate and leaving aside the effects of price inflation and exchange rate variation (+£11 million), there has been a real cost increase of £25 million. This increase derives principally from additional costs associated with dockyard projects and with missiles and related equipment, offset by a reduced acquisition cost for the four submarines. Expenditure on the Trident acquisition programme to 30 September 2001 represented over 98 per cent. of the total estimate. If all expenditure, past and projected, is brought up to this current year's economic conditions (the non-hybrid estimate) the estimate is £14,376 million.

The programme continues to show an overall reduction in real terms on its original 1982 estimate. This reduction, including the savings resulting from the decision to process missiles at the United States facility at Kings Bay, Georgia, now stands at over £3.7 billion at current prices.

The proportion of the estimate for work undertaken in the United Kingdom continues to be around 70 per cent.

Three in-service Vanguard class submarines are successfully maintained for continuous at-sea deterrence, with the fourth, HMS Vanguard, now undergoing a planned major overhaul.

Cabinet Minister, at an annual salary of £43,991; two Ministers of State, at a total annual salary of £82,963; and one Parliamentary Under-Secretary, at an annual salary of £23,623. From June 2001, there was one Cabinet Minister, at an annual salary of £68,157; one Minister of State, at an annual salary of £35,356; and two Parliamentary Under-Secretaries, at a total annual salary of £87,796.