Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment he has made of the effect of changes to the timetable for work to commence on building the new Type 26 Frigate on the skills base in the affected shipyards.

I refer the hon. Member to the oral answer I gave during Defence questions in the House on 27 June 2016 to the hon. Member for Rutherglen and Hamilton West (Margaret Ferrier).

The Government have already invested £1.6 billion in the Type 26 programme. We will only enter into a contract once we are confident of the delivery schedule and the ability of the contractors to meet that schedule on a cost effective basis.