Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if will make an estimate of the number of (a) Royal Navy and (b) Babcock plc staff who have been assigned to the work to repair HMS Prince of Wales as of 15 November 2022.

Six Royal Navy staff have been specifically assigned to investigate the cause of, and manage work to rectify, the defect in HMS Prince of Wales. Further Royal Navy staff are working to rectify the defect as part of their wider duties, but the numbers of these staff cannot be ascertained in the time available. It is not for the Ministry of Defence to comment on the resourcing of external contractors.