Ref: 21-01-2010-145428-001  
 
 
Request for Information: Release of Information under the Freedom of 
Information Act 2000 
 
Dear Martin Butcher, 
 
Thank you for your email which we received on 21 January 2010 in which you 
made the following request: 
 
Dear Sir or Madam, 
      
This is a Freedom of Information request. As of January 2010, has the 
Secretary of State for Defence made the 'initial gate' decision to proceed 
with the replacement programme for the Vanguard class nuclear missile 
submarines? 
 
      
If not, what is the timetable for such a decision? 
      
If yes, have any contracts been issued pursuant to the 'initial gate' 
decision, and at what cost? 
      
Yours faithfully, 
      
Martin Butcher 
 
As reported in Hansard, on 11 January 2010 (Column 402) the Parliamentary 
Under-Secretary of State for Defence (Mr Quentin Davies) stated: 
 
“This is an incredibly important decision and we need to get it right. We 
have come up with one or two possible new technical options for the 
design of the successor class submarine, and we will need a few more 
months to evaluate those fully before we take a decision.” 
 
As the Initial Gate decision has not been taken, no contracts have been 
issued. 
  
 
 

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Mark Taylor 

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