Question to the Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 18 October 2016 to Question 47643, what estimate his Department has made of the number of times a new Royal Yacht would have to be used for trade promotion to represent a good return on investment.

The Government is determined to deliver on its ambition for stronger global trade. Whilst it is important to recognise the iconic role the Royal Yacht played during its period of service, commissioning a new Royal Yacht is not on the Government's agenda. As a result, this Department has not undertaken a cost/benefit analysis of deploying a Royal Yacht for trade promotion.

There is nothing to prevent private enterprise from proposing and building a new yacht for the UK to use for trade support, overseas visits and humanitarian reasons.