Select committee: Scottish Affairs Committee
Conclusion 85
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)
Another challenge identified by contributors related to retraining and lifelong learning for the existing workforce. City of Glasgow College told us “a skilled workforce which is regularly upskilled and reskilled across a lifetime is vital to sustaining a world-class shipbuilding industry in Scotland and the UK.” The College drew attention, in particular, to advances in manufacturing technology for which retraining would be required.140 John Howie gave a practical example of how reskilling could help bring workers from other sectors into shipbuilding: As technology evolves, we need to think about where there might be people with sympathetic skillsets who can be easily retrained. For example, as we move from the world of internal combustion engine cars to electric vehicles, the demands for complex vehicle maintenance will decline, so there is a load of people out there with good mechanical and electrical skills who could be easily retrained to work in complex platforms, because the world of work is evolving.141
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.