Written question asked by Jim Murphy (Labour) on Monday, 28 February 2011, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 3 March 2011. It was answered by Peter Luff (Conservative) on Thursday, 3 March 2011 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

HMS Cumberland

Question: (2) what estimate he has made of the likely weekly cost to the public purse of maintaining HMS Cumberland once it is decommissioned;

Answer: In order to deal with the deficit in the defence budget and contribute to wider deficit reduction, a decision was taken as part of the strategic defence and security review to withdraw from service the remaining four Type 22 Frigates, including HMS Cumberland. The savings arising from this decision will include overheads and other costs relating to the operation of a class of ship. Therefore, the precise savings arising from the withdrawal of an individual ship are not separately identifiable. The total savings from withdrawing all four ships are estimated at some £240 million across the comprehensive spending review period.It is not possible at this stage to state the costs of maintaining HMS Cumberland following her decommissioning as work is ongoing to identify the optimum disposal route.The projected operating cost for HMS Cumberland in financial year 2010-11, based on actual costs to February 2011 and those estimated for the remainder of the financial year is £16 million.

Secondary information