Source · Select Committees · Scottish Affairs Committee
Recommendation 38
38
Accepted
The UK Government should carry out and lay before Parliament a formal evaluation of the...
Recommendation
The UK Government should carry out and lay before Parliament a formal evaluation of the contribution of the National Shipbuilding Office after two years, and again after five and ten years, to assess whether it has succeeded in driving better strategic decision- making in shipbuilding. As part of this review, the UK Government should specifically consider the question of, and publish conclusions on, whether the National Shipbuilding 57 Q139 58 Q129; Q142 59 Q140 60 Q218 61 Q139 62 Q217 (see footnote 2) 63 Q217 18 Defence in Scotland: military shipbuilding Office has sufficient powers to achieve its aims and whether it is able to gather adequate data on the military shipbuilding industry.
Government Response Summary
The government states that the NSO is gathering the required data to monitor and assure the delivery of the Refresh, and reports to the Secretary of State for Defence who has the ability to hold other Ministers to account. They believe the NSO is suitably empowered to provide strategic oversight and is committed to demonstrating accountability and value publicly, including the publication of the NSO Corporate Plan (2022–25).
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
The NSO is a strategic organisation, with a mandate to oversee all of the Government’s shipbuilding interests. The NSO works with Departments to optimise their shipbuilding requirements, the approach to delivery, and procurement to best deliver on the UK’s NSbS. It also works with policy teams across Government to address the enablers to overall competitiveness, including skills development and research and development funding. The NSO is gathering the required data to monitor and assure the delivery of the Refresh. The NSO reports to the Secretary of State for Defence, who in his role as Shipbuilding Tsar has the ability to hold other Ministers to account in support of the delivery of the NSbS. The NSO is suitably empowered to provide strategic oversight of all Government activity across the shipbuilding enterprise and is committed to demonstrating accountability and value publicly where possible. This includes the publication of the NSO Corporate Plan (2022–25) on the GOV.uk website, which can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/ government/groups/national-shipbuilding-office#nso-corporate-plan