Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of evaluation criteria for the Type 31 were attributed to social value.

The evaluation criteria for the Type 31 programme required bidders to deliver a prosperity and exports strategy as part of the design and build contract. This strategy contains the contractor's commitment to deliver improvements in areas such as supply chain development, social welfare, skills and productivity enhancements, as well as exports. In addition to the specific requirement for a prosperity and exports strategy, prosperity benefits to the UK were inherent throughout the Type 31 evaluation criteria not least because of the requirement that the ships must be built in the UK, but also because of the emphasis placed on exportability.