Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the National Audit Office report, Investigation into equipment cannibalisation in the Royal Navy, published on 1 November 2017, what plans he has to increase investment in technical documentation and the cataloguing of Royal Navy ship parts when vessels are brought into service.

As part of a continuous review of the Royal Navy's In Service Capability Management process, improvements continue to be made to the performance, reliability, sustainability and affordability of each of their capability areas. Included in this process is consideration of the quantity and quality of technical documentation and cataloguing and the elements highlighted in the National Audit Office Report will inform further the decisions made about future investment.