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PART 5 The costs involved.
RB44 Army Light Vehicle From government papers
RB44 Vehicles
Dr. David Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many of his Department's RB44 light vehicles are roadworthy; and when they became so. [40396]
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Mr. Arbuthnot: A modification programme to render the Reynolds Boughton RB44 heavy utility truck roadworthy was initiated on 2 October 1995, with approximately 50 vehicles being modified each week. To date, 136 vehicles have been modified and are thus considered roadworthy.
Dr. Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much his Department has spent on servicing the RB44 light vehicles since purchasing them; and by whom the servicing of his Department's RB44 light vehicles is conducted. [40397]
Mr. Arbuthnot: Servicing of the RB44 heavy utility truck is conducted by military or civilian maintenance personnel or under contract by commercial companies.
Information on the cost of servicing the vehicles is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.
Dr. David Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence which company carried out the repairs to his Department's RB44 light vehicle; how many vehicles were sent for repair; what was the total cost of repair; and who will pay this bill. [9952]
Mr. Arbuthnot [holding answer 18 January 1996]: Modifications to the RB44 heavy utility truck in 1992 were made at the manufacturer's expense. Following the identification of continuing braking problems in 1993, and analysis of these by the Defence Evaluation and Research Agency, in consultation with the manufacturer, a further modification programme to 824 vehicles was started in October 1995 and is due to be complete by the end of
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March 1996. The modification kits have been provided by the company, and about 100 of them have been fitted by the company, at its own expense. The remainder are being fitted by military or civilian personnel in unit workshops. The direct cost to the Department of carrying out these modifications is estimated at some ￡100,000. In addition, other costs to the Department associated with rectifying the problem include the analysis and trials of DERA at a cost of some ￡310,000 together with the costs of returning vehicles to serviceable and roadworthy condition and maintaining other vehicles used while RB44 have been out of service. The latter costs are not readily quantifiable. The total costs to the Department on this basis are assessed to be less than ￡1,000,000.