Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps he is taking to allow and support British companies to bid for contracts in the procurement process for the Trident successor programme.

The use of competition remains the cornerstone of defence procurement and this approach has been successful in driving efficiency into the UK defence industry.

We are working with our Tier One contractors, who are responsible for procurement, on a range of measures designed to ensure opportunities are better advertised and to encourage British companies to bid for contracts.

The Dreadnought class submarine programme represents billions of pounds of investment in thousands of British jobs, across hundreds of firms, from Scotland to the South of England

85% of BAE Systems supply chain for the new submarines is based in the UK.