Select committee: Scottish Affairs Committee
Conclusion 14
Fourth Report - Defence in Scotland: military shipbuilding
Published 27 Jan 2023
Paragraph 51
Addressed to Scotland Office
Scottish Affairs Committee Defence in Scotland All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
We wish to underline the importance to Scottish shipyards of maintaining a dependable ‘drumbeat’ of orders to allow them to invest and grow. The days of ‘feast and famine’ must not return. The creation of the National Shipbuilding Strategy suggests that the UK Government appreciates the importance of this point. However, there remains some uncertainty about the pipeline in the 2030s and 2040s, such as the basis on which the Type 45 destroyers will be replaced. The Scottish shipbuilding industry should not be given cause to doubt that it will have a consistent order book in the future, so long as it continues to deliver on its commitments to its Government customers.
From: Scottish Affairs Committee, Fourth Report - Defence in Scotland: military shipbuilding (HC 1096), paragraph 51, 27 January 2023
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 6 April 2023 (deadline 27 March 2023).
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The MOD disagrees with the Committee's first conclusion and its conclusion on a potential Scottish workstream gap, while welcoming recognition of export success and the National Shipbuilding Office's Edinburgh presence and setting out its position on the pipeline, skills and SMEs.
- On the Fleet Solid Support contract, the MOD says the decision to award it to Team Resolute "did not prioritise short-term savings" and followed "a fair and open competition". It says it does not disclose details of losing bids, so it cannot say why the Team UK bid was non-compliant.
- The MOD "does not agree" that the award creates a potential gap in the workstream for the Scottish warship industry. It cites Type 31 construction continuing until 2028 and Type 26 construction "expected to continue into the mid-2030s".
- On the pipeline, the MOD says it is "subject to change" as it spans 30 years, but the National Shipbuilding Office "has committed to updating the shipbuilding pipeline at each multi-year Spending Review". For Type 32 frigates, the procurement route is "yet to be determined".
- On annual Type 26 updates to Parliament, the MOD "will consider its request". On skills, the UK Shipbuilding Skills Taskforce "intends to publish a report of recommended actions in autumn 2023", and its Chair "would be pleased to meet with the Committee" afterwards.