Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what criteria are used to establish whether a contract for naval ships should be advertised and such ships procured by international rather than national competition; and if he will make a statement.
As set out in the National Shipbuilding Strategy, future procurement of ships by the Ministry of Defence will be by competition.
All Royal Navy warships (destroyers, frigates and aircraft carriers) will continue to have a UK-owned design, and will be built and integrated in the UK. Warship build will be via competition between UK shipyards.
All other naval ships should be subject to open competition, provided that there are no compelling national security reasons to constrain a particular procurement to national providers. Integration of sensitive UK-specific systems will be done in the UK, where possible after competition between UK providers.