Shipbuilding: Use of British Steel for Royal Navy

Lord Coaker Excerpts

Tuesday 30th November 2021 Lords Chamber

[Viscount Younger of Leckie (Con)]

The Type 26 construction programme is sufficiently flexible. The noble Lord will know that there are some delays owing to the late delivery of the propulsion gearboxes. The cost of the contract awarded in 2017 to manufacture the first batch of three Type 26 frigates is £3.7 billion. On current plans, HMS “Glasgow” will be in the water by the end of 2022.

[Lord Coaker (Lab)]

My Lords, is it not an appalling state of affairs that, with the Government spending billions of pounds on boosting our naval power, we have to go abroad for much of our steel, as the Minister has just told this Chamber? What people want to hear is what the Government are going to do about it. Rather than describing the problem, can he say how we are going to boost the British shipbuilding industry so that British naval ships are built with British steel?

[Viscount Younger of Leckie (Con)]

Of course, the noble Lord makes a good point: it would be great if ships could be made from British steel. However, as I said earlier, the steel required for the ships being built—both the surface ships and submarines—is highly specialised. He will know that, for example, the fixed steel required for submarine hulls is made in France with Industeel. The steel for the surface ships is there for the UK steel industry, but at the moment it is sourced from abroad.