Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps is he taking to ensure that the General Purpose Frigate programme leverages the wider supply chain built up for the Queen Elizabeth-class carrier programme and takes advantage of skills in design, engineering, manufacturing, integration, and assurance resident outside BAE Systems.

We have begun the initial pre-concept work to take forward the new General Purpose Frigate (GPFF) programme outlined in the White Paper 'National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015'. The work is in the very early stages and it is too early to say what either the build strategy or the detailed supply chain arrangements may be.

In addition, as part of his work leading the National Shipbuilding Strategy, Sir John Parker will be considering how to balance the GPFF requirement against export opportunities and industrial capacity.