§ Mr. KeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many refits the three Invincible Class carriers will have before they leave service; and if he will estimate the cost of each refit. [118266]
§ Mr. SpellarHMS Ark Royal is currently undergoing refit at Rosyth. On current plans for the introduction of replacement carriers, there will be a further two refits of Invincible Class carriers.
The cost of the refits will depend on the scope of work to be undertaken, for which planning work has only recently commenced. The refit of Ark Royal is due to complete in late 2001 at a planned cost of about £116 million, subject to any additional unforeseen work.
§ Mr. KeyTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what was the operating cost of each of the Invincible Class carriers in each of the past three years. [118267]
§ Mr. SpellarThe operating costs of Invincible Class carriers, over the last three financial years, were in the order of:
£ million HMS Invincible HMS Illustrious HMS Ark Royal 1997–98 46.9 35.8 3.8 1998–99 41.5 42.4 5.0 1999–2000 51.8 37.5 63.8
Number of compulsory drugs test results (January 1995 to March 2000) RN Class of drug Army RAF A B C A B C A B C 1995 — — — 11 118 0 — — — 1996 — — — 15 281 0 — — — 1997 0 14 0 35 483 1 — — — 1998 3 12 0 40 401 0 0 1 0 1999 5 28 0 107 364 14 2 8 0 20001 4 6 0 37 100 0 1 2 0 1 To date Note:
It should be noted that some individuals have tested positive for more than one type of drug.
Numbers of personnel subsequently administratively discharged RN Army RAF 1995 — 104 — 1996 — 178 — 1997 13 426 — 1998 13 336 1 1999 30 255 7 20001 9 111 1 1 To date