Royal Fleet Auxiliary Ships Dr. Julian Lewis To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what his policy is for (a) the retention in service and (b) the upgrading of Royal Fleet Auxiliary Argus. Mr. Ingram On current plans Royal Fleet Auxiliary Argus will be withdrawn from service in 2020. No decisions have been taken on the upgrading of RFA Argus, though we are considering our options for the future provision of a Joint Casualty Treatment Ship capability. Dr. Julian Lewis To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what (a) additions and (b) deletions have been made within the past 12 months to the list of Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships scheduled for refitting and upgrading. Mr. Ingram During the twelve months from 30 June 2005 to 1 July 2006, there were no additions or deletions to forward plans to the refit of Royal Navy (RN) and Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) ships. Refits are, however, part of a wider upkeep programme, from which there have been seventeen deletions, but no additions. These deletions, which remove projects between 2006 and 2020, are listed in the following table: ------------------------------------------------------------- | |Ship |Reason for the deletion | ------------------------------------------------------------- |2008|HMS Illustrious |Replaced with alternative maintenance| ------------------------------------------------------------- |2010|HMS Illustrious |Replaced with alternative maintenance| ------------------------------------------------------------- |2006|RFA Sir Tristram|Reviewed and no longer required | ------------------------------------------------------------- |2012|HMS Ark Royal |Reviewed and no longer required | ------------------------------------------------------------- |2015|HMS Ocean |Reviewed and no longer required | ------------------------------------------------------------- |2007|HMS Endurance |Revised maintenance cycle | ------------------------------------------------------------- |2008|HMS Roebuck |Revised maintenance cycle | ------------------------------------------------------------- |2011|HMS Scott |Revised maintenance cycle | ------------------------------------------------------------- |2012|HMS Endurance |Revised maintenance cycle | ------------------------------------------------------------- |2014|HMS Endurance |Revised maintenance cycle | ------------------------------------------------------------- |2014|HMS Roebuck |Revised maintenance cycle | ------------------------------------------------------------- |2017|HMS Quorn |Revised maintenance cycle | ------------------------------------------------------------- |2017|HMS Scott |Revised maintenance cycle | ------------------------------------------------------------- |2018|HMS Chiddingfold|Revised maintenance cycle | ------------------------------------------------------------- |2019|HMS Middleton |Revised maintenance cycle | ------------------------------------------------------------- |2020|HMS Hurworth |Revised maintenance cycle | ------------------------------------------------------------- |2020|HMS Scott |Revised maintenance cycle | ------------------------------------------------------------- RN and RFA ships are not specifically scheduled for upgrades, since equipment is upgraded when the opportunity arises, usually as part of an upkeep period. Opportunities to undertake upgrades are kept under regular review and can change for operational reasons.