§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the(a) dates, (b) destinations, (c) duration, (d) passengers and (e) cost of the royal yacht Britannia's last 10 voyages; and if he will make a statement. [13223]
§ Mr. Soames[holding answer 28 January 1997]: The information requested is as follows:
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Date Location Royal family member(s) embarked/engagement 1995 19–20 June Rendsburg, Germany TRH the Duke and Duchess of Kent embarked 19 June 20–23 June Kiel TRH the Duke and Duchess of Kent disembarked 21 June 26–27 June Dundee Commercial event HRH the Prince of Wales embarked 26–27 June 29 June Portsmouth 26 July-2 August Cowes HRH the Duke of Edinburgh embarked 28 July-2 August 347W
Date Location Royal family member(s) embarked/engagement 4–14 August Western Isles HM the Queen embarked 4 August HRH the Duke of Edinburgh embarked 7 August Royal visit to Oban—7 August 14 August Aberdeen HM the Queen and HRH the Duke of Edinburgh disembarked 14 August 16–21 August London HM the Queen and HRH the Duke of Edinburgh and other members of the Royal Family embarked 18–20 August 22 August Portsmouth 28–29 September Gibraltar Routine visit/fuel 3–9 October Piraeus Commercial events 13–20 October Palma, Balearic Islands Informal visit 23–27 October Lisbon, Portugal Commercial events 30 October Portsmouth 1996 20–21 February Devonport Sea training 27–28 February Ponta Delgada Routine visit/fuel 6–9 March Bermuda Informal visit/fuel 12–17 March Palm Beach HRH The Duke of Edinburgh embarked 13–17 March 18–20 March Savannah Commercial events 22–26 March Baltimore, USA Commercial events 28 March-8 April Boston, USA Commercial events HRH The Duke of York embarked 31 March-2 April 15–22 April Toronto, Canada Commercial events 26–27 April Halifax, Canada Routine visit/fuel 3 May Ponta Delgada Routine visit/fuel 7 May Portsmouth 22–24 June Douglas HRH the Prince of Wales embarked 24 June 25 June Belfast Royal visit 26–27 June Londonderry HRH the Prince of Wales disembarked 27 June 29 June Portsmouth 5 July Marchwood HM the Queen Mother embarked 6–7 July Falmouth Royal visit 8–10 July Portsmouth HM the Queen Mother disembarked 8 July 11–14 July Amsterdam, The Netherlands HRH the Duke of Kent embarked 11–12 July 15 July Portsmouth 31 July-7 August Cowes HRH the Duke of Edinburgh embarked 2–7 August
Date Location Royal family member(s) embarked/engagement 7–17 August Western Isles HM the Queen embarked 7 August HRH the Duke of Edinburgh embarked 12 August Royal visit to Stranraer—10 August 17 August Aberdeen HM the Queen and HRH the Duke of Edinburgh disembarked 17 August 19 August Portsmouth Information on the marginal costs of individual deployments could be provided only at disproportionate cost. I refer the hon. Member to the answer that I gave to the hon. Member for Banff and Buchan (Mr. Salmond) on 28 January, Official Report, column 200, for the total annual running costs for Britannia since 1990.
§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many days the royal yacht Britannia has been on(a) active service and (b) personal duty to the royal family in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [13230]
§ Mr. Soames[holding answer 28 January 1997]: The information requested is as follows:
Year Total number of days Britannia was used on active service1,2 Number of days Britannia was used for personal duty by the royal family2 1992 85 12 1993 189 11 1994 128 0 1995 143 11 The precise figures for 1996 are not yet available. 1 Active service includes all official duties, both royal and commercial, undertaken by HMY Britannia. 2 The figures include the transit times to and from Portsmouth.
§ Mr. FlynnTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many days in each of the last five years the royal yacht Britannia was(a) docked out of service in a home port, (b) docked in service in a home port, (c) docked in a foreign port and (d) at sea; and if he will make a statement. [13220]
§ Mr. Soames[holding answer 28 January 1997]: The information requested is as follows:
Year Docked out of service in a home port1 Docked in service in a home port Docked in a foreign port At sea 1992 171 135 16 43 1993 44 134 98 89 1994 105 167 39 54 1995 148 99 51 67 The precise figures for 1996 are not yet available. 1 Includes maintenance and Docking and Essential Defect periods.