Jonathan Edwards asked the Secretary of State for Defence “if she will make an estimate of the cost to the public purse of potential late changes to the Dreadnought submarine design. What assessment she has made of the effect of delays to Dreadnought submarines on the out of service date for Vanguard submarines.
Stuart Andrew Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Defence responded “The design and build of the Dreadnought class submarines continues. The programme remains on track to enter service in the early 2030s, it remains within its budget. The build phase for the entire class will take approximately 20 years. The Dreadnought programme will ensure the United Kingdom has a credible, independent and capable nuclear deterrent out to the 2060s.”
Jonathan Edwards asked “Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment she has made of the effect of delays to the Astute submarine programme on the delivery of the Dreadnought programme.”
Stuart Andrew replied “The Dreadnought submarine programme remains within budget and on track to deliver the first boat in the early 2030s.”
Jonathan Edwards asked “the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps her Department in taking to tackle delays to the Vanguard submarine maintenance schedule. What estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of delays to the Vanguard submarine maintenance schedule.”
Stuart Andrew replied “The Ministry of Defence is committed to working closely with Babcock to safely deliver submarine support work, including our major planned maintenance projects. With Babcock, we are employing robust programme management techniques to deliver the HMS VANGUARD planned period of deep maintenance and refuel work. I am withholding the estimated cost as its disclosure would prejudice commercial interests.”
Jonathan Edwards asked “the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate her Department has made of the cost to the public purse of upgrading docks at Devonport as part of the UK nuclear programme.”
Stuart Andrew responded “The Ministry of Defence continues to undertake work to define the future infrastructure requirements at Devonport to deliver the submarine programme safely and securely. We are currently conducting negotiations with industry partners.”
Jonathan Edwards asked “the Secretary of State for Defence, if she will publish the full-life costings of all elements of the UK nuclear programme.”
Stuart Andrew responded “The Ministry of Defence does not, and has no plans to, routinely publish whole life costs for projects, nuclear or otherwise, beyond what is already published in reports such as the Defence Equipment Plan, Ministry of Defence Annual Report and Accounts, and the Infrastructure and Projects Authority’s Annual Report on Major Projects.”