Question to the Ministry of Defence:
To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much UK manufactured steel is being used in the production of Type 26 frigates.
For the Batch 1 Type 26 frigates, almost 50% by value of the steel is UK sourced. This is equivalent to about 35% by tonnage, or 1,400 tonnes per ship.
Steel is procured in accordance with Cabinet Office guidelines and steel for our major defence programmes is generally sourced by our prime contractors from a range of UK and international suppliers. Many defence programmes require specialised steels that are not currently manufactured in the UK; nevertheless, we encourage the sourcing of UK steel wherever it is technically and commercially feasible.