§ Mr. HancockTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on why(a) HMS Echo and (b) HMS Enterprise are not in service; for how long they will be laid up; and what the annual cost of their (i) repairs and (ii) crew is. [143367]
§ Mr. IngramHMS Echo was accepted into service on 17 October 2003. HMS Enterprise was accepted from the prime contractor, Vosper Thornycroft in September 2003 and is expected to enter service in the third quarter of 2004. Both vessels" in-service dates have been delayed by design and production difficulties at the shipbuilder and subsequent technical difficulties. Neither vessel is laid up; however, HMS Enterprise's trials programme is currently on hold because of technical problems with her propulsion system. She is expected to resume her trials programme in April next year and in the meantime her crew are using the time to undertake training and vessel familiarisation.
These ships are maintained under novel contractor logistic support arrangements, the annual costs of which are commercially sensitive and I am withholding them in accordance with Exemption 7 of the Code of Practice on Access to Government Information, which relates to effective management and operations of the public service.
The annual crew costs for both vessels is approximately £3.8 million, excluding seagoing allowances and training costs.