Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 16 March 2015 to Question 226869, for what reasons the Answer stated that approval for the Maritime Heritage Foundation to manage the site of HMS Victory 1744 has not been removed, when in his letter of 27 February 2015 to Lord Lingfield he stated that he had decided to withdraw that approval.

The letter of 27 February 2015 from my right Hon. Friend, the Defence Secretary, to Lord Lingfield concerns the withdrawal of the approval to recover at risk surface artefacts from the site of HMS Victory 1744, not the Maritime Heritage Foundation's management of the wreck site itself. The letter also made clear that the related issues raised in a Judicial Review application, that has now been withdrawn, are being considered by officials; it would therefore be inappropriate to comment until this process is concluded.