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 fixing the (a) propulsion problem and (b) leak on board HMS Queen Elizabeth.

Maintenance of Royal Navy warships (including their power and propulsion systems) is funded through an In Service Support allocation of Naval funds through a Maritime Support Delivery Framework contract.

While an immediate assessment of the flood damage in HMS Queen Elizabeth has been conducted, a detailed survey remains ongoing. It is therefore too early to establish costs but it is not envisaged to impact upon the ship's future operational test programme.