Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether their recent order for five Type 31e frigates will increase the number of frigates in the Royal Navy.

Her Majesty's Government announced the preferred bidder for the Type 31 General Purpose Frigate competition in September 2019 and looks forward to the contract award in due course. These five ships will replace the existing five General Purpose Type 23 Frigates.

As explained in the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 and in the National Shipbuilding Strategy, we remain committed to a surface fleet of at least 19 frigates and destroyers, and the Royal Navy will continue to have the ships it requires to fulfil Defence and policy commitments. It remains our intent to grow the destroyer and frigate force by the 2030s, and the Type 31 Frigates will give us the opportunity to do this.