Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether completion bonds or other financial arrangements will be put in place before granting the Maritime Heritage Foundation permission to recover at risk surface items from the wreck site of HMS Victory 1744; and what specific communications there have been between government departments on that matter.

Funding for the approved next stage of the project (recovery of at-risk surface items, subject to a licence by the Marine Management Organisation) is underwritten by a financial bond provided by Odyssey Marine Exploration and held by the Ministry of Defence (MOD). Funding of the project has been discussed by officials from MOD and the Department for Culture Media and Sport as part of the assessment of the Project Design.