Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress has been made on realising the planned savings between 2016-17 and 2020-21 from disposals of his Department's estate.
Answered by Tobias Ellwood
The Department has achieved £413.4 million from the completion of 170 disposal transactions in the period 2016-17 to 2018-19. The Department continues to work closely with stakeholders to release additional sites for disposal in line with previously announced defence estate optimisation plans.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of Royal Navy Leading Hands working on the Astute class submarines have completed the qualifying sea time.
Answered by Lord Lancaster of Kimbolton
There is no 'qualifying sea time' requirement within individual branches for a Leading Hand. All Leading Hands assigned to the first four Astute Class submarines have passed the Basic Submarine Qualification.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the two new aircraft carriers were built to Lloyd’s Register’s Naval Ship Rules.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
Yes. Both Aircraft Carriers comply with 'Lloyd's Register's Rules and Regulations for the Classification of Naval Ships - January 2005' for structures and machinery. Military ships, due to their operational purpose, require additional classifications and Lloyd's Rules are tailored to comply with the more challenging requirements and standards of military vessels. These are agreed between Lloyd's Register, the Ministry of Defence Naval Authorities and the Aircraft Carrier Alliance.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when the Royal Navy officially accepted HMS Forth; when her sea trials commenced; and what the date is when sea trails are expected to be completed.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The Ministry of Defence accepted HMS Forth at Vessel Acceptance Date on 24 January 2018 and she was commissioned into the Royal Navy (RN) on 13 April 2018. Her contractor sea trials were conducted in two parts, in October 2017 and January 2018. The RN sea trials were conducted in January 2018.
HMS Forth will undertake further RN sea trials in the coming months with the expectation these will be completed in the summer.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, at inception what the estimated hand over date of HMS Forth was; and when sea trials were expected to commence.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The firm price contract for three River Class Offshore Patrol Vessels awarded to BAE Systems in August 2014 has a value of £378 million. The contract does not separately identify the cost of each of the three ships. Of the contract value, £30 million is for items including trials, spares, testing and Government Furnished Equipment. The value of the contract remains unchanged.
At contract award, the estimated build time of HMS Forth was 31 months. Delivery of the ship, in January 2018, was not in accordance with the planned schedule, owing to delays during construction. The build of HMS Forth was not affected by design, technical or relationship issues.
At contract award, the planned contract acceptance date for HMS Forth was May 2017. Contractor sea trials were expected to commence two months before contractual acceptance.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the build of HMS Forth was affected by (a) design problems, (b) technical issues or (c) relationship issues between the Royal Navy, Ministry of Defence and the contractor.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The firm price contract for three River Class Offshore Patrol Vessels awarded to BAE Systems in August 2014 has a value of £378 million. The contract does not separately identify the cost of each of the three ships. Of the contract value, £30 million is for items including trials, spares, testing and Government Furnished Equipment. The value of the contract remains unchanged.
At contract award, the estimated build time of HMS Forth was 31 months. Delivery of the ship, in January 2018, was not in accordance with the planned schedule, owing to delays during construction. The build of HMS Forth was not affected by design, technical or relationship issues.
At contract award, the planned contract acceptance date for HMS Forth was May 2017. Contractor sea trials were expected to commence two months before contractual acceptance.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the estimated build time was for HMS Forth at inception; and whether that ship was delivered on time.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The firm price contract for three River Class Offshore Patrol Vessels awarded to BAE Systems in August 2014 has a value of £378 million. The contract does not separately identify the cost of each of the three ships. Of the contract value, £30 million is for items including trials, spares, testing and Government Furnished Equipment. The value of the contract remains unchanged.
At contract award, the estimated build time of HMS Forth was 31 months. Delivery of the ship, in January 2018, was not in accordance with the planned schedule, owing to delays during construction. The build of HMS Forth was not affected by design, technical or relationship issues.
At contract award, the planned contract acceptance date for HMS Forth was May 2017. Contractor sea trials were expected to commence two months before contractual acceptance.
Asked by: Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party - Dunfermline and West Fife)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of the River Class 2 patrol vessel, HMS Forth (a) at inception and (b) when it was accepted by the Royal Navy.
Answered by Stuart Andrew - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Culture, Media and Sport)
The firm price contract for three River Class Offshore Patrol Vessels awarded to BAE Systems in August 2014 has a value of £378 million. The contract does not separately identify the cost of each of the three ships. Of the contract value, £30 million is for items including trials, spares, testing and Government Furnished Equipment. The value of the contract remains unchanged.
At contract award, the estimated build time of HMS Forth was 31 months. Delivery of the ship, in January 2018, was not in accordance with the planned schedule, owing to delays during construction. The build of HMS Forth was not affected by design, technical or relationship issues.
At contract award, the planned contract acceptance date for HMS Forth was May 2017. Contractor sea trials were expected to commence two months before contractual acceptance.