Select committee: Scottish Affairs Committee
Conclusion 67
Fourth Report - Defence in Scotland: military shipbuilding
Published 27 Jan 2023
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)
The MOD’s SME Action Plan acknowledges some of the challenges SMEs face. The Plan notes that “improving access to opportunities for SMEs also requires support from MOD as the end customer”109 and proposes a number of actions aimed at improving 101 Ministry of Defence, MOD trade, industry and contracts 2022, 29 September 2022 102 Ministry of Defence, MOD trade, industry and contracts 2022, 29 September 2022 103 Ministry of Defence, Policy paper: Opportunity and Innovation: The Defence Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) Action Plan, 27 January 2022 104 Q241 105 Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, Business population estimates for the UK and regions 2022: statistical release, 6 October 2022 106 Q245 107 Defence in Scotland: military landscape, First Report of Session 2022–23, HC 82, pp. 14–16 108 Defence in Scotland: military landscape: Government Response to the Committee’s First Report, Third Special Report of Session 2022–23, HC 674, p. 2 109 Ministry of Defence, Policy paper: Opportunity and Innovation: The Defence Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) Action Plan, 27 January 2022 Defence in Scotland: military shipbuilding 27 access for and engagement with SMEs. Neither the Action Plan nor the MOD’s response to our previous report propose actions to specifically addresses the under-representation of Scottish SMEs, however. Indeed, the MOD’s response to our report is explicit that “improving SME engagement is a nation-wide issue and we are taking a national, rather than regional approach.”110
From: Scottish Affairs Committee, Fourth Report - Defence in Scotland: military shipbuilding (HC 1096), 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.