§ Mr. Gordon Brownasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the defects apparent in HMS Redpole after its refit in Lowestoft; how many weeks the refit took; and what is the cost of the refit.
§ Mr. Norman LamontHMS Redpole was converted from RAF to RN use at Lowestoft. The conversion took 31 weeks, including sea trials. The cost of this work is commercially confidential. Following sea trials it was decided that the propellors—which had not formed part of the conversion package—should be replaced at Rosyth dockyard. In addition, some 29 defects were reported, some of them very minor. It would not be appropriate to disclose details of defects in an operational ship. The responsibility for rectifying these defects is a matter for negotiation.
§ Mr. Gordon Brownasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will explain why royal dockyard employees were not given full information on the reasons why they were required to do extra work on HMS Redpole.
§ Mr. Norman LamontDuring sea trials of HMS Redpole, following conversion at a commercial yard, a problem with its propellers—which had not formed part of the contractor's work package—came to light. It was decided that this should be rectified at Rosyth dockyard and dockyard employees were informed through a standing dockyard committee of the work that they would be required to undertake. Although there is work to be done on other operational defects, this will be carried out by the Royal Naval Fleet maintenance group at Rosyth and will not involve the dockyard.
§ Mr. Gordon Brownasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the cost of additional work on HMS Redpole at Rosyth naval dockyard; and to whom it will be charged.
§ Mr. Norman LamontRosyth dockyard is carrying out work on the propellers of HMS Redpole. This work was not part of the contract specification in the ship's recent conversion and the costs will fall to my Department in the usual way.