Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether there was a competitive tender for building the UK's first Multi-Role Ocean Surveillance Ship.

The first Multi-Role Ocean Surveillance Ship is expected to enter service in 2023.

As negotiations for the first of the two Multi-Role Surveillance ships announced by the Secretary of State for Defence on 3 October 2022 are still in progress, it would be inappropriate to comment further at this time.

The procurement of the second ship is in the Concept Stage and no decisions have yet been made regarding the procurement strategy. No contract has yet been awarded for the construction of either ship.