The future of Scottish shipyards could be at risk if more Royal Navy orders are allowed to go overseas, a report by MPs has warned. The Scottish Affairs Committee called for "greater clarity" on where warships would be built in the coming decades.
The report comes after a recent £1.6billion contract for the construction of three naval support ships had gone to an international consortium – which will see some of the building work take place in Spain. Govan and Scotstoun - the last two shipyards on the Upper Clyde - are dependent on winning future orders from the Royal Navy.
The yards are currently working on the Type 26 frigate programme but MPs want answers on what orders will likely follow in the 2030s. SNP MP Pete Wishart said: "Military shipbuilding is a major Scottish success story. From Rosyth to Glasgow, we have military shipbuilding hubs that boost local economies and invest in skills and training.”
The committee chairman hailed a recent announcement that more Type 26 frigates are to be built by BAE Systems in Glasgow as being a “major vote of confidence in the Scottish shipbuilding sector”. But he added: "UK Government policy on military shipbuilding ebbs and flows.
"On the one hand, ministers are championing the skill and expertise the military shipbuilding sector thrives on in Scotland, but, on the other, its policies have opened up the ‘offshoring’ of warship production to other countries.
"The Government cannot have this both ways: a thriving shipbuilding sector is dependent on the drumbeat of orders. We have the skills and expertise here, in Scotland, to support our future military shipbuilding needs so it is unclear what benefit is to be had by opening up procurement to international competition.
"We hope the UK Government carefully considers our findings and recommendations, and in turn offer some certainty to the military shipbuilding sector in Scotland that its prominence in designing and building warships is here to stay."
A UK Government source told the Record: "The MOD spent more than £2 billion in Scotland in 2021/22 - much of which was invested in the Scottish shipbuilding industry. Committee members heard from defence expert Professor Keith Hartley of York University who said he did not see a future for a Scottish warship industry in an independent Scotland."
A spokesman for the MOD said: "We thank the Scottish Affairs Committee for recognising the success story that is shipbuilding in Scotland.
"There is a strong pipeline of shipbuilding and maintenance work in Scotland, with a Defence spend of £1.989 billion with Scottish business in 2021/22, representing billions of investment and supporting thousands of jobs well into the next decade.
"Equipping our Royal Navy to deal with both current and future threats can require international collaboration and the use of global supply chains. This builds on the foundation of a strong British shipbuilding industry, with continued investment in people and skills."
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