Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the future of the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast which has entered into administration.

On 16 September, Harland and Wolff announced the winding down of non-core operations and were clear that this would in no way affect jobs at its shipyards or core operations, including delivering on contracts for the Ministry of Defence at the Belfast shipyard.

We explored all options to provide support and following a thorough review of Harland and Wolff’s financial situation, it is clear that at present the market is best placed to address their challenges.

We will continue to work across government and with the Northern Ireland Executive, as needed, to help secure shipbuilding and manufacturing across the UK.