Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Earl Howe on 1 February (HL5091), whether they have produced any estimates of the difference in cost per ship if long-lead items had been ordered for all eight Type 26 Frigates, rather than for an initial batch of three ships.

The Ministry of Defence undertook a series of cost modelling options to inform the decision to order the ships in two batches, and this included the purchase of long-lead items. We concluded that any small benefit that might accrue from buying long-lead items for all eight ships would be offset by the risk of the items becoming obsolete before the start of the programme for the second batch of ships.