Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 3 February to Question 136537 on Harland and Wolff: Welding, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the ability of Harland and Wolff to meet its contractual obligations on the construction of the new Fleet Solid Support Ships.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
Team Resolute is obliged by the Fleet Solid Support ship contract to deliver the social value and training plan. The Ministry of Defence has no direct contractual relationship with Harland & Wolff; the company is a sub-contractor to the prime, Navantia UK, within the Team Resolute consortium.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Departments planned timescale for the design and construction of the Fleet Solid Support Ships beginning with the awarding of the contract to the Team Resolute consortium in November 2022.
Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)
On current plans, construction of the Fleet Solid Support ships will begin in 2025 with the first ship expected to enter service in 2031, and all three ships in operational service by 2032, which will deliver the Full Operating Capability for the Fleet Solid Support programme.
Asked by: Mick Whitley (Labour - Birkenhead)
Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent progress has been made on the Fleet Solid Support Ship competition.
Answered by Jeremy Quin
As announced on 1 September 2021, four consortia, all of which include significant UK involvement, have been awarded Fleet Solid Support (FSS) ship Competitive Procurement Phase contracts to mature their proposals. The project is on track to receive final manufacture tenders in July 2022. The Ministry of Defence expects to be able to award a manufacture contract for the FSS ships within two years of competition launch in May 2021.