Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what progress he has made on the Core Production Capability programme in the context of the Delivery confidence assessments for Government Major Project Portfolio Defence projects.

Delivery confidence assessments for Government Major Project Portfolio Defence projects published by National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority confirm that the Core Production Capability continues to make progress in delivering the infrastructure, workforce and manufacturing capabilities required to support our submarine programmes.

The major facility upgrades required to support Dreadnought reactor core production have been delivered, with activity now focused on completing final commissioning, manufacturing and delivering the reactor cores required.

The Ministry of Defence continues to work with Rolls-Royce Submarines to ensure delivery of reactor components in time to support Dreadnought entering service in the early 2030s as planned.

Work is also underway to modernise and expand the manufacturing capability and capacity required to produce reactor cores and nuclear steam raising plant for future SSN-AUKUS submarines, supporting both the UK and Australian submarine production programmes.