Proceeding contribution from Bob Ainsworth (Labour) in the House of Commons on Thursday, 12 June 2008. It occurred during Ministerial statement on HMS Tireless.
HMS Tireless
I apologise to the hon. Gentleman: it was certainly my intention that he, like the official Opposition spokesman and the Chairman of the Defence Committee, receive the board of inquiry document along with a copy of my statement. If that has not happened, I can only apologise to him. He will be able to get a copy of the document from the Library, although I appreciate that it is now too late. The hon. Gentleman raised issues relating to sleeping quarters that are covered in the board of inquiry report. There are sleeping facilities in every part of our submarines—submarines are not endowed with a great deal of space, as anyone can see when they go on board. Yes, there were issues. There is an emergency oxygen capability, which it seems some members of the crew did not use: the issue there is their confidence in those emergency provisions. There are also plug-in oxygen providers: we need to increase the number of access points, as the board of inquiry has proposed, in order to prevent delays in accessing that second safety measure in good order and good time. The hon. Gentleman can see those matters set out in the board of inquiry document. I can only apologise again for his not receiving it. On next-of-kin informing, we took longer to get to people than we should have. We went to addresses that proved to be incorrect, which caused distress. That is a problem, and we must try to do better.
Secondary information
- Type
- Proceeding contribution
- Reference
- 477 c474
- Session
- 2007-08
- Chamber / Committee
- House of Commons chamber
- Subjects
- Accidents Contamination Inquiries Submarines HMS Tireless
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- View this Proceeding contribution on www.publications.parliament.uk
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