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22 Jun 2009 : Column 628W—continued

Trident

Jeremy Corbyn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when he expects to place before Parliament proposals for Initial Gate approval for the programme to replace the UK's Trident nuclear weapons system. [281475]

Mr. Bob Ainsworth: It is not normal for Parliament to be involved in Initial Gate decisions for procurement projects. I do however propose to update Parliament on progress after Initial Gate. The main investment decision point, and the point at which we would issue the main contracts to industry for the construction of the new submarines, is still several years away.

Warships

Dr. Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many months and what percentage time each Royal Navy (a) attack submarine, (b) destroyer and (c) aircraft carrier in service spent (i) on operations and (ii) in maintenance in each year since 2006. [280824]

Bill Rammell: The following figures are approximate because records held centrally do not always distinguish precisely between routine maintenance and other time spent alongside, since the two activities are often intermixed.

22 Jun 2009 : Column 629W

22 Jun 2009 : Column 630W

Attack submarines
	2006				2007				2008
	Months		Percentage		Months		Percentage		Months		Percentage
Vessel	OP	MAIN	OP	MAIN	OP	MAIN	OP	MAIN	OP	MAIN	OP	MAIN
Superb	4	6	30	47	1	8	10	64	2	5	17	21
Sceptre	1	7	6	60	7	2	55	13	1	10	5	73
Trafalgar	6	5	45	42	0	10	0	81	7	2	52	11
Turbulent	5	3	42	24	2	7	12	57	0	10	0	73
Tireless	2	6	14	45	5	4	41	29	3	8	25	64
Torbay	7	2	60	13	0	11	0	92	3	4	21	35
Trenchant	0	12	0	100	5	3	39	26	7	2	50	14
Talent	0	10	0	78	5	3	39	22	7	2	52	14
Triumph	0	12	0	100	0	12	0	100	0	12	0	100

Destroyers
	2006				2007				2008
	Months		Percentage		Months		Percentage		Months		Percentage
Vessel	OP	MAIN	OP	MAIN	OP	MAIN	OP	MAIN	OP	MAIN	OP	MAIN
Edinburgh	7	2	58	17	6	3	50	25	8	2	67	17
Gloucester	6	2	50	17	1	9	8	75	6	2	50	17
Manchester	0	7	0	58	7	4	58	33	8	1	67	8
York	8	3	67	25	4	2	33	17	0	12	0	100
Liverpool	7	3	58	25	1	7	8	58	9	1	75	8
Exeter	4	3	33	25	4	1	33	8	4	1	33	8
Nottingham	8	3	67	25	5	4	42	33	4	0	33	0
Southampton	7	3	58	25	7	2	58	17	2	2	17	17

Aircraft carriers
	2006				2007				2008
	Months		Percentage		Months		Percentage		Months		Percentage
Vessel	OP	MAIN	OP	MAIN	OP	MAIN	OP	MAIN	OP	MAIN	OP	MAIN
Illustrious	5	5	37	15	5	3	42	25	6	4	50	33
Ark Royal	0	9	0	66	3	1	25	8	7	4	58	33

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