Select committee: Scottish Affairs Committee
Conclusion 6
First Report - Defence in Scotland: military landscape
Published 24 Jun 2022
Paragraph 39
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 military shipbuilding sector provides an important pipeline of highly skilled jobs for Scottish industry. While current Royal Navy Type 26 and Type 31 orders are very welcome, the future of the sector is dependent on favourable UK Government policies and a regular ‘drumbeat’ of orders, which we will explore further in our inquiry into military shipbuilding.
From: Scottish Affairs Committee, First Report - Defence in Scotland: military landscape (HC 82), paragraph 39, 24 June 2022
Government response
The government responded to the whole report on 26 September 2022.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government welcomes the Committee's recognition of defence investment in Scotland, rejects the claim of 'engrained hesitancy' towards Scottish SMEs, and mostly notes or commits to continue existing work on the other recommendations.
- On SMEs, the MOD says it "reject[s]" the view that there is an "engrained hesitancy" in the defence sector towards Scottish SMEs. It notes the recommendation to reach 8% of SME spending in Scotland, and points instead to its UK-wide target that 25% of procurement spend goes directly and indirectly to SMEs by the end of 2022.
- On warship procurement, it says the build location of specific vessels "cannot be guaranteed" and that each class of ship will be determined "on a case-by-case basis".
- On local authority collaboration, it notes the recommendations and says it will continue to work with local authorities. It states that "Local economic assessments are not routinely conducted", and is committed to formal partnership arrangements "where appropriate".
- On the recommendations to the Scottish Government about funding and income tax, it says the matters sit outside the MOD's remit and that officials have been asked to share them with Scottish Government counterparts.