Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has discussed with the Secretary of State for International Development the continued in-service use of HMS Ocean as a disaster relief vessel.

HMS OCEAN is primarily a landing platform for Helicopters. Its use for disaster relief in the Caribbean was intended to supplement the capability of RFA MOUNTS BAY, which was prepositioned in the Caribbean for hurricane season and is better suited to Humanitarian and Disaster Relief operations and responded to the situation in Anguilla less than 24 hours after Hurricane Irma struck. Plans for the use of Defence assets for future disaster relief operations remain under constant reviews across Government. Any decisions to adjust plans will be informed by the cross-Government lessons learned process from the UK's immediate response to Hurricanes Irma and Maria, as well as the ongoing National Security Capability Review.