Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the security risk and the impact on the resilience of the defence industry of the construction of vessels in China or Vietnam for the Defence Maritime Next Generation Service program.

The construction locations of vessels being procured as part of the Defence Marine Services Next Generation In-Port Services contract do not present a risk to the security of the United Kingdom. Future maintenance of the vessels will take place in the UK.

The Government is stepping up its support for sovereign shipbuilding capabilities. The Procurement Act 2023 provides greater scope to strengthen supply chain visibility and drive social value. All options in and around this legislation are being explored to support the UK shipbuilding industry. In addition, the forthcoming Shipbuilding and Maritime Technology Action Plan will describe the new approach to oversight of ship and boatbuilding programmes across the strategic breadth of Government procurement.