Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Written Statement of 27 June 2017, Contingent Liability, HCWS 14, that three Type 26 global combat ships will be built, (a) how much steel in tonnes will be used to construct those ships and (b) what the country of origin is of that steel.

Around 4,000 tonnes of steel will be required to build each Type 26 Frigate. Steel will be sourced principally from the UK and Sweden. For some grades of plate steel the combination of thickness, size and flatness specifications needed for the Type 26 Frigates mean that the steel cannot be sourced in its entirety in the UK.