§ Mr. Nicholas Wintertonasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will estimate the cost of providing defence facilities for North Sea oil installations.
§ Mr. DuffyThe plans for protecting oil installations are based on deterrent patrolling and surveillance by ships and aircraft. Five offshore patrol vessels of the Island class are being provided for this purpose together with four Royal Air Force Nimrod aircraft. These ships and aircraft will also be employed on fishery protection. The first of the ships is already operational and the remainder will be accepted into the Royal Navy during 1977. The aircraft will be allocated from 1st January 1977.
The capital costs of the new ships, totalling about £17½ million, are being borne by the Ministry of Defence; the Nimrods are being provided from existing resources. The cost of operating all these ships and aircraft for a full year will amount to about £5.5 million, and will be shared between the Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland, and the Department of Energy. These ships and aircraft will be backed up as necessary by other units of the three Services and details of the cost of these other resources cannot be provided without disproportionate effort and expense.