Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what modifications will be needed at HMNB Clyde and RNAD Coulport to accept the successor submarine programme; what estimate he has made of the cost to the public purse of adapting the ship-lift facility at HMNB Clyde to accommodate the successor to the Vanguard class submarine; and how much of the money announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer on 31 August 2015 will be used to undertake that work.

On 31 August 2015, my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced that at least £500 million would be made available for the Royal Navy's flagship submarine base HM Naval Base Clyde at Faslane, securing 6,700 jobs and creating thousands more.

The project to make the necessary adaptations to accommodate the Successor submarine programme at Her Majesty's Naval Base Clyde and Royal Naval Armament Depot Coulport is in its Assessment Phase. The number and scope of modifications will not be known until these assessments are complete.

Similarly, it is not possible to establish precise costings until the project is more mature.