§ Dr. David ClarkTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) what was the cost of construction of the seven Trafalgar class strategic submarines nuclear(a) at year of completion and (b) at 1996 prices; [21396]
(2) what was the cost of construction of the five Sandown class mine counter-measures vessels presently in service (a) at the year of construction and (b) at 1996 prices; [21392]
(3) what was the cost of construction of each of the 12 type 42 destroyers remaining in service (a) at year of completion and (b) at 1996 prices; [21394]
(4) what was the cost of construction of the 14 type 22 frigates built for the Royal Navy (a) at year of completion and (b) at 1996 prices; [21397]
(5) what was the cost of construction of each of the 10 type 23 frigates accepted into service (a) at year of completion and (b) at 1996 prices; [21395]
(6) what was the total cost of construction of the 13 hunt class MCMVs (a) at year of completion and (b) at 1996 prices. [21393]
§ Mr. ArbuthnotMy hon. Friend the then Minister of State for Defence procurement set out on 14 January 1988 the basis for discontinuing the practice of publishing unit production costs of selected equipments,Official Report, column 373. This remains our position. We continue to make available to the Defence Committee of the House each year on a classified basis costs for those ships currently in production.