Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much his Department has spent on maintenance and checks for the nuclear-powered submarines in laid-up storage at (a) Her Majesty's Naval Base Devonport and (b) Rosyth Dockyard.

The Ministry of Defence has spent to date a total of circa. £34.4 million on the maintenance and checks carried out by the Department and regulators on the decommissioned submarines that are awaiting disposal.

The approximate figures for Her Majesty’s Naval Base Devonport and Rosyth Dockyard are circa. £11.9 million and £22.5 million respectively.

The first submarine to undergo initial dismantling under the Submarine Dismantling Programme will be HMS Swiftsure.