Representatives from across the UK’s maritime sector and shipbuilding industry have made recommendations to the government after assessing progress on The National Shipbuilding Strategy Refresh which was launched in March 2022. The Strategy set out the Government’s vision for a productive, competitive and innovative shipbuilding sector. It set out a 30-year shipbuilding pipeline for cross-government orders, pledged to support green shipbuilding technologies and build the UK’s skill base, and develop a Home Shipbuilding Credit Guarantee.

 Eight recommendations have now been made, aimed at bolstering and advancing progress on the strategy. The recommendations follow a joint meeting of the Scottish Parliament’s Cross-Party Group (CPG) on Maritime and Shipbuilding and the UK Parliament’s All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Shipbuilding and Ship Repair.

 The recommendations include:

1. The NSO should continue to work with HM Treasury and Government departments to ensure that the delivery of vessels within the cross-government pipeline maximises the opportunities for the UK shipbuilding enterprise, enabling it to deliver a range of economic benefits across the country.
2. The Government should give further consideration to public sector shipbuilding procurement policies, recognising the strategic importance of the UK shipbuilding enterprise and better evaluating its contribution to UK prosperity.
3. Despite welcoming the minimum 10% social value weighting, the UK shipbuilding enterprise invites the Government to show ambition and raise the threshold for UK content.
4.  The Government should devote even greater levels of investment in innovation, research and development, and green infrastructure and incentivisation in order to strengthen the maritime supply chain and the UK’s shipbuilding enterprise’s place within it.
5. The Government should work with stakeholders across departments to take forward the recommendations outlined in Maritime UK’s Offshore Wind Plan, collaborating with the offshore renewable energy sector and the wider catapult network to further strengthen the UK’s maritime sector.
6. The Government should address the competitiveness gap in providing capital to fund decarbonisation projects within the UK’s shipbuilding enterprise by implementing the recommendations of the UK Marine Decarbonisation Report – endorsed by the MCA and the Financial Products Working Group – into the Clean Maritime Plan Refresh.
7. The Government should commit to a clear timeline for the implementation of the Home Shipbuilding Credit Guarantee Scheme (HSCGS) and stick to it.
8. The Department for Education and the NSO should publish the Government's response to the final report of the UK Shipbuilding Skills Taskforce before the end of 2023.

The full briefing can be viewed online here.