§ Mr. William RossTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if he will list the shipyards in the United Kingdom which are capable of building ships of the size of the future generation of aircraft carriers. [136273]
§ Dr. MoonieThis is a matter for the Chief Executive of the Defence Procurement Agency. I have asked the Chief Executive to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from David Gould to Mr. William Ross, dated 16 November 2000:
I am replying to your question to the Secretary of State for Defence asking if he will list the shipyards in the United Kingdom which are capable of building ships of the size of the future generation of aircraft carriers. This matter falls within my area of responsibility as Chief of Defence Procurement and Chief Executive of the Defence Procurement Agency.The competing Prime Contractors for the future aircraft carrier—BAE Systems and Thomson Naval Systems—have identified a number of UK shipyards with the potential capacity to participate in the build of the vessels. These include Harland and Wolff in Belfast, Swan Hunter on Tyneside, Cammell Laird at Birkenhead and the BAE Systems' yards at Govan and Barrow. Much will depend on the carrier design that is taken forward and the method of construction; consequently, other UK yard options have not been ruled out. Some of the yards identified by the Prime Contractors face potential build limitations or have access restrictions that could prevent whole-ship construction.We do not plan to award a contract for the build of CVF until 2004 and no decisions are planned at this stage on yard selection. Ongoing assessment work will include a thorough review of all UK facilities and will address yard suitability, construction/access limitations and the overall cost-effectiveness of potential build strategies.I hope this explains the position.