Kevan Jones – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Ministry of Defence

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Kevan Jones on 2016-07-20.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he expects that the build facilities selected as the build location for both the Type 26 frigate programme and the General Purpose Frigate will be able to deliver both platforms concurrently.

Harriett Baldwin

We have begun the initial pre-concept work to take forward the new General Purpose Frigate (GPFF) programme outlined in the White Paper ‘National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015’. The work is in the very early stages and it is too early to say what either the build strategy or the detailed supply chain arrangements may be.

In addition, as part of his work leading the National Shipbuilding Strategy, Sir John Parker will be considering how to balance the GPFF requirement against export opportunities and industrial capacity.