Defence Industrial Base

Baroness Pinnock Excerpts

Monday 16th June 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Coaker (Lab)]

My noble friend makes an important point. He will know that one of the actions of the Government was to see the fleet solid support ships now built in Belfast. That is a really important success that the Government have had. But he is also right that we must ensure that, as far as we can, we rebuild the sovereign capability of our country to have the defence industry it needs. Let me be clear: the sovereign capability of our own industry is now a national security requirement. One thing that Ukraine has forced us to do is to wake up to the fact that we need our own industry, as well as depending on others.

[Baroness Pinnock (LD)]

My Lords, can the Minister explain whether the proposed SME support hub has been established and how many SME businesses the Government anticipate will engage with the hub? Furthermore, will the Government urge engagement from SMEs from every region of England?

[Lord Coaker (Lab)]

There used to be something called the Defence Suppliers Forum, but it did not include SMEs. We have established the Defence Industrial Joint Council, which, as well as big industry—the primes—will include small and medium-sized businesses. The noble Baroness makes a good point; another thing we have learned from Ukraine is the agility and adaptability of small companies and businesses, which have shown their worth—clearly, we need to grow them. The number of small and medium-sized companies will grow over the next few years through the Government’s determination to grow all sectors, including the SME sector.