Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that the UK has access to an adequate supply of skilled labour to ensure that the UK shipbuilding enterprise can deliver the strategically important naval programmes necessary to ensure that the Royal Navy and Royal Fleet Auxiliary can fulfil their tasks.

The Secretary of State for Defence is firmly committed to the UK's shipbuilding enterprise and is leading work across Government to deliver an innovative and competitive shipbuilding sector which supports jobs, skills and prosperity throughout the country. Further detail on how Government will develop a sustainable pipeline of skilled workers for the sector will be set out in the Refresh to the National Shipbuilding Strategy, to be published later this year.