Recommendation 49

In its December 2021 report “We’re going to need a bigger Navy”, the Defence Select Committee recommended that the Ministry of Defence provide Parliament with an annual shipbuilding plan, including the number of ships planned to enter and leave service each year in the next 30 years. We ask that the Senior Responsible Owners for the Type 26, Type 31, Astute and Dreadnought programmes provide the Committee with an annual report on each of their programmes within six months of the publication of this report, and then annually.83 In its response the Ministry of Defence said it would “provide a single annual update to the Defence Committee which will include an update on Surface Fleet availability and shipbuilding plans.”84 More than a year on from the publication of the Defence Committee’s report, the MOD has not yet published an update, despite indicating in a letter that it would provide one in October 2022.85 78 PQ 109433 [Warships: Procurement], 13 December 2022 79 The Times, Fears for Scots shipbuilding as prime minister prepares to scrap £2.5bn frigate order, 15 January 2023 80 Evidence taken before the Defence Select Committee, 17 May 2022, Q30 81 The Times, Fears for Scots shipbuilding as prime minister prepares to scrap £2.5bn frigate order, 15 January 2023 82 Q3 83 Defence Committee, Third Report of Session, “We’re going to need a bigger Navy”, HC 168, p. 56 84 Defence Committee, Fifth Special Report of Session 2021–22, “We’re going to need a bigger Navy”: Government Response to the Committee’s Third Report, HC1160, p. 14 85 Letter from the Minister of State for Defence Procurement to the Chair of the Defence Select Committee, 13 June 2022 Defence in Scotland: military shipbuilding 23