§ Helen JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the latest estimate is of the cost of the Trident acquisition programme; and if he will make a statement. [5987]
§ Mr. HoonThe current estimate of the total acquisition cost of the Trident programme, with payments already made expressed at the prices and exchange rates actually incurred and future spend at the current financial year exchange rate (the hybrid estimate), is now £9,764 million. Leaving aside the effects of price inflation and exchange rate variation (+£7 million), there has been a real cost increase of £12 million. Expenditure on the Trident acquisition programme to 30 September 2000 represented some 98 per cent. of the total estimate. If all expenditure, past and projected, is brought up to this current year's economic conditions (the non-hybrid estimate) the estimate is £13,662 million.
The programme continues to show an overall reduction in real terms on its original 1982 estimate. This reduction, including the savings resulting from the decision to process missiles at the United States facility at Kings Bay, Georgia, now stands at over £3.9 billion at current prices.
The proportion of the estimate for work undertaken in the United Kingdom is around 70 per cent.
Our four in-service Vanguard class submarines are successfully maintaining continuous at-sea deterrence. HMS Vengeance entered service earlier this year.