Devonport submarine base ‘not fit for purpose’ say MPs

Devonport Dockyard, where the Royal Navy’s nuclear submarines are refitted and serviced, is not “fit for purpose”, MPs have warned.

The Commons Public Accounts Committee said Devonport was short of berthing spaces for Vanguard submarines, which carry Trident nuclear missiles.

There was also a backlog of 20 nuclear submarines waiting to be disposed of at Devonport and Rosyth in Scotland.

The committee chairwoman, Meg Hillier, said: “The MoD needs to get on top of this quickly.”

The committee blamed “incorrect” assumptions in the past about the infrastructure that would be needed to address a shortage of berths.

And it said past decisions to delay maintenance at the MoD’s 13 nuclear sites around the UK, including Devonport, had created a “ticking time bomb”.

Devonport is home to 13 laid-up submarines awaiting dismantling with another seven at Rosyth

HMS Vanguard is undergoing her second refit at Devonport

Work is under way on the first nuclear submarine dismantling of HMS Swiftsure, at Rosyth and that is due to end in 2023.

The MoD, which will take lessons from that project, estimates it will begin defueling the next submarine in the mid-2020s, according to the committee report.

Ms Hillier said the MoD had “previously put off dismantling submarines on grounds of cost”, but this was “no longer acceptable on grounds of safety and reputation”.

And she called for an annual report on the decommissioning of submarines.

The dismantling and disposal of nuclear waste would take “at least a couple of decades” the MoD told the committee.

The committee said the MoD should “end the practice of delaying disposal of out of service submarines”.

The warning came after the National Audit Office said the MoD’s Nuclear Enterprise programme of maintaining and replacing the submarine fleet was facing a £2.9bn “affordability gap”.

Ms Hillier said: “I am particularly concerned that the infrastructure available to support the Nuclear Enterprise is not fit for purpose.”

She added that with the MoD already facing “challenges” over the delivery of its new aircraft carriers and a potential £20bn shortfall in its equipment programme, there were “serious questions” over its ability to meet its national security commitments.