HC Deb 17 July 2000 vol 354 cc10-1W
Mr. Gill

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence (1) if he will provide a schedule of dates when orders for new warships for the Royal Navy will be placed; [126192]

(2) what assessment he has made of the effect upon warship building yards of no new orders having been placed in the past three years; [126190]

(3) what was the most recent date on which a new warship was ordered for the Royal Navy. [126191]

Dr. Moonie

I refer the hon. Member to the statement my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence made on 11 July 2000,Official Report, columns 701–12.

On 19 June 2000, it was announced that the prime contract for the procurement of two new Multi-Role Hydrographic and Oceanographic Survey Vessels had been awarded to Vosper Thornycroft (UK) Ltd. The contract includes the provision of 25 years' contractor support for the vessels and is worth some £130 million in total over the life of the ships. The ships will be built under sub-contract at Appledore Shipbuilders in North Devon and are due to enter service in 2002 and 2003.

As for the schedule for future warship orders, the Strategic Defence Review set out our plans for a forward RN shipbuilding programme which included plans for Type 45 Destroyers, two future Aircraft Carriers and up to 20 Future Surface Combatants, as well as a range of other vessels over the next 15 to 20 years.

We keep the position of UK warshipbuilding yards under careful review; our assessment is that they possess adequate capacity to build vessels in accordance with our forward RN shipbuilding programme and to win such orders through competition with each other. Under Smart Procurement, we continue to consult closely with the shipbuilding industry across a range of individual programmes to ensure effective communication and planning between us.

Mr. Keetch

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he plans to(a) issue invitations to tender in respect of and (b) place the order for, the production of the first Type 45 destroyer; and if he will make a statement. [124915]

Dr. Moonie

I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence on 11 July 2000,Official Report, columns 701–12.