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 31 frigates expressed as a percentage of gross tonnage of each vessel.

Steel for the Type 31 frigates has been sourced by Babcock, the prime contractor, from Kloeckner Metals, an Exeter based steel stockist. Thin plate with the required combination of thickness, size and flatness specifications required for Type 31 is not manufactured in the UK. This type of steel comprises the majority of the steel required to construct the Type 31 Class.

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.