Written evidence submitted by Ministry of Defence (DIS0034)

SHIPBUILDING STRATEGY FUNDING

Q227; Deidre Brock MP; Committee Member

The National Shipbuilding Strategy Refresh 2022 reflects well over £4BN of investment in UK shipbuilding over the next three years alone. Some of this funding was announced at the 2021 Autumn Budget and Spending Review and you will appreciate that some of the detail remains commercially sensitive and cannot be released publicly.

I can confirm that it includes a number of new measures which will support the Government’s ambition to create a globally successful, innovative and sustainable UK shipbuilding enterprise not only for Defence-related issues, but more broadly.

For example, the 2021 Autumn Budget included funding for the Border Force fleet over the three-year spending review period as well as funding through the Levelling Up Fund for the replacement of the passenger and freight vessels serving the Isles of Scilly.

Funding for the MOD’s elements of the 30 Year Cross-Government Shipbuilding Pipeline was set out in the 2021 Defence Command Plan. The locations for funding allocation are subject to bids received and future decisions following the outcomes of the necessary commercial processes.

SPOUSAL AND PARTNER SKILLS

Q221; Pete Wishart MP; Committee Chair

The MOD was proud to launch the revised UK Armed Forces Families Strategy[1] (2022-32) in January 2022. The Strategy and associated Action Plan has been developed with extensive stakeholder engagement including that of our Scottish colleagues. We were pleased to receive Keith Brown MSP, Scottish Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Veterans’ written statement of support in the Strategy opening pages.   

The Strategy works and delivers across eight core workstreams including Supporting Partners. Each workstream has a supporting action plan and a stakeholder delivery group that involves colleagues from across the UK.    

The MOD also continues to promote the Families Federations Forces Families Jobs (FFJ) as the “go to” Employment training portal. Currently, Scottish Government jobs are advertised on FFJ; moving forward opportunities will be looked at to expand across the rest of the public sector in Scotland.

The military co-networking hub at Leuchars, started up by military partners in 2017 as both an online community and as a physical place to work alongside each other to feel less socially isolated, continues to go from strength to strength, inspiring the creation of a further five hubs at other bases across the UK.

Across the Devolved Administrations, Accredited Governing Bodies and Professions set their own standards and qualification requirements. Moving between administrations can therefore cause issues with recognition of qualifications. The MOD works with the Families Federations and sector organisations to improve awareness among partners and spouses of Serving personnel prior to relocation.  Helpful contributions are the Scottish Government programmes “Capitalising on Military Family Talent” and “Business in the Community Scotland” which continue to highlight to business the skills and experiences that partners and spouses of Armed Forces personnel possess. The Partner Workstream will explore initiatives to further support this good work.  

The Families Strategy supports the UK Armed Forces Covenant Legislation and delivery of other Commitments to support Armed Forces families across issues including childcare and access to healthcare, education and housing. The strategy also advocates for the UK Government “Family Test” (refreshed in 2020) - in particular, encouraging its application to policy development within the Defence context.

ARMED FORCES COVENANT

Q255; Sally-Ann Hart; Committee Member

The Armed Forces Covenant (AFC) is promoted equally to all sectors across the UK. Covenant signings continue to grow at a steady pace of approximately 30-40 a week, currently at over 8000 UK wide. There is a very positive story to tell in Scotland with 567 signings and a good number of Employer Recognition Scheme (ERS) Awards issued:

The Gold Award Association (GAA) is also very active in Scotland and is a fantastic advocate for the AFC and the communities it supports.

In the Lowlands region, a range of employers and bodies hold Gold Awards including, but not limited to: NHS Scotland; Police Scotland; Taylor Wimpey; Rangers FC; ABDRN (Standard life Aberdeen); Scottish Engineering (Org); Arnold Clark; and the Bell Group.

All have continuing interaction with the MOD. However, there is also great success with Small & Medium Enterprises in Scotland. A significant contribution to Defence comes from very small businesses in all manner of ways from supporting a member of staff who is a Reservist, to actively seeking veterans to employ. These include, but are not limited to: Forest Prevision Engineering; SKED Construction; and James McVicar Printworks.

In the Highlands region there are 87 very active employers, several of which have gone on to achieve Gold Employment Recognition Scheme (ERS) Awards, notably Wood Group and Scottish Water who head up our Gold Network. In additional to these two, a number of other employers includes: Aberdeenshire Council; Aberdeen City Council; Dales Marine Service; IED Training Solutions; and the Scottish Ambulance Service.

In addition, Dunbartonshire, Dundee & Angus, Fife, and Moray Chambers of Commerce are founder members of the ChamberFORCE project which delivers a tremendous amount for Defence as Force multipliers across their areas. They are either Gold holders, or Silver going for Gold this year and are partnered with a Defence “buddy” (e.g., Moray Chamber with RAF Lossiemouth; Dundee & Angus with 225 Med Regt in Dundee) and work collaboratively as conduits between Defence and their large employer networks.

May 2022