Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the reliance on one dry dock facility in the UK by the Royal Navy given the susceptibility (1) to enemy attack, and (2) to occupation by other vessels.

The Ministry of Defence has adequate plans to deal with urgent dry docking requirements for all class of ships operated by the Royal Navy. Where there is not a sovereign dock capability, there are arrangements to use commercial facilities and there is no reliance on a single facility to undertake dry dock maintenance.

Maintenance and dry docking requirements, outside of an urgent requirement, are carefully planned in order to maintain the availability of Royal Navy ships.