MoD responds to Prospect concerns over defence shipbuilding

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Little comfort for Prospect members as Government responds to defence shipbuilding concerns

Prospect members can draw little comfort from the response by the Government to the joint letter written in July by the Prospect and the GMB after the cancellation of the Type 31e Frigate and the offshoring of the Fleet Solid Support ships (FSS) procurement 

Bow of aircraft carrier Queen Elizabeth while sailing

Whilst the response from Stuart Andrew MP Minister for Defence Procurement does reiterate the Governments desire to have the Type 31e frigates in service by 2023 it gives no indication as to how the problems caused the premature cancellation of the procurement will be resolved. It goes on to state that the Government will also continue with it's plan to offshore the contract for the FSS vessels.

The letter which is attached, indicates that the 31e procurement was stopped because "an insufficient number of compliant bids had been received from industry", but it continues "it is for industry to develop innovative competitive bids for all our future ship procurement".

Commenting on the letter Prospect National Secretary for Scotland and Ireland Richard Hardy said "we appreciate the Ministers taking the time to respond, but it seems to us to be somewhat contradictory for the Minister to say that the procurement was stopped because there weren't enough bids, to not indicate any change in the Governments wishes and then simply expect "industry" to resolve the issue."

"Whilst the Government waits for industry to solve their problems skilled workers, many of them Prospect members are losing their jobs in British shipyards for lack of work, over 200 jobs have gone at Rosyth alone in recent months" continued Hardy "if we don't see action soon then the innovative solution proposed by industry may be to force the Government to procure all it's vessels offshore for want of a British yard capable of building warships".

"We also fundamentally disagree with the Government that the FSS vessels are not warships, they will have sophisticated weapons handling systems to enable them to support and re-supply Royal navy carrier groups at sea, is this technology we wish to place in the hands of offshore constructers" Hardy concluded.

Prospect is calling for a fair deal for defence workers, and for the Government to recognise the need to invest in and retain a trained workforce across British shipyards, the Union will continue to lobby and influence politicians across the political spectrum on why defence jobs matter