The Ministry of Defence has said the construction locations of vessels procured under the Defence Marine Services Next Generation In-Port Services contract “do not present a risk to the security of the United Kingdom”, while pointing to a forthcoming overhaul of shipbuilding oversight across government.
Responding to a written parliamentary question from Lord Spellar, Defence Minister Lord Coaker addressed concerns over the use of overseas yards for vessels linked to the Defence Maritime Next Generation In-Port Services programme.
“The construction locations of vessels being procured as part of the Defence Marine Services Next Generation In-Port Services contract do not present a risk to the security of the United Kingdom,” he said. Lord Coaker added that “future maintenance of the vessels will take place in the UK”.
The minister used the response to outline wider changes underway in defence industrial policy, particularly around maritime procurement and supply chain resilience. “The Government is stepping up its support for sovereign shipbuilding capabilities,” he said, pointing to the Procurement Act 2023 as a mechanism to strengthen domestic industry.
According to the minister, the legislation provides “greater scope to strengthen supply chain visibility and drive social value”, with officials examining “all options in and around this legislation… to support the UK shipbuilding industry.”
Lord Coaker also confirmed that a dedicated Shipbuilding and Maritime Technology Action Plan will soon be published, setting out a new framework for programme governance. “The forthcoming Shipbuilding and Maritime Technology Action Plan will describe the new approach to oversight of ship and boatbuilding programmes across the strategic breadth of Government procurement,” he said.
It would be nice to be able to analyse an actual document from time to time rather than just a ‘forthcoming’ plan, but hey ho.
A cross-government maritime plan is long overdue, we could be doing a lot more than we are at the moment to support shipbuilding as a national industry.
This is the Serco contract, right?.
No doubt this “forthcoming Shipbuilding and Maritime Technology Action Plan” is also delayed by the DIP like everything else seems to be…
I think Putin has come-up with a sneaky way to ensure the U.K. is never a threat, he’s the one blocking the publication of the DIP 😏
A plan…WOW. Meetings, liasons, thoughts, suggestions et al. No orders, no money…..