Plymouth is set for a jobs bonanza as the Government increases defence spending. MP Luke Pollard said an additional 7,500 workers will be needed in Devonport dockyard alone, with further recruitment predicted in the South Yard freeport area and among other businesses in the city.
He said it is not just defence giants such as dockyard-operator Babcock International Group Plc which stand to benefit. Mr Pollard said there will be investment into the likes of robot vessels, military vehicles, tech and innovation, and firms in areas such as Turnchapel and in the north of the city could hit paydirt, with a push to attract high-tech small companies into doing defence work.
The Sutton and Devonport MP, also armed forces minister, said he is also looking forward to the publication of the Government’s strategic defence review later this year and said it will be positive for Plymouth, He said it will give “clarity” about the role of Plymouth-based Royal Marines and the future of amphibious operations after the decision to sell Devonport assault ships HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark.
“The future of Devonport is really bright.” the Labour politician told PlymouthLive. It comes as Prime Minister Keir Starmer labelled Barrow-in-Furness is a “blueprint” for how increasing defence spending can boost prosperity across the UK.
Mr Starmer was in the Cumbrian town to lay the keel for the next generation of Britain’s nuclear deterrent submarines and said plans to boost defence spending will help fulfil his mission to grow the economy.
Mr Pollard said that Plymouth stands to benefit too with the future base-porting of Type-26 anti-submarine warfare frigates, currently under construction in Glasgow, and which are “coming on incredibly well”. He added: “We are also going to be getting more submarine work, we are the only place that can refit submarines and we will need more jobs to do that.
“We need more than 7,500 jobs over 10 years in the dockyard. Five thousand of those are engineering jobs on ships and 2,500 are construction jobs, building the facilities we need. And that is not counting the potential in South Yard for new jobs.
“We want more autonomous systems in the dockyard and Babcock is developing their land vehicles with the Jackels. That land business is important for jobs in the dockyard.
“We are the best place to do submarines and autonomy. So it is not just good for Babcock but for Turnchapel and the high-tech businesses in the north of the city.”
Mr Pollard said the strategic defence review will support a “clearer role” for the Royal Marines and for Devonport “around the stuff we are really good at”. He said the war in Ukraine has shown how modern warfare has changed, and why the vessels HMS Albion and HMS Bulwark are no longer needed.
He said Royal Marines would now be needed in “smaller raiding parties” and said: “We are looking for a government-to-government purchase and are committed to replacing Albion and Bulwark with multi-role strike ships (MRSS), a modern replacement for amphibious ships.”
He said the assault ships were redundant in modern warfare and said:“The two ships were not available and were not going to go to sea again. I had been chasing for clarity on those ships and we couldn’t get any honesty out of the previous government. They were tied up in Devonport, using dock space and costing the taxpayer £9m a year to have them tied up, and we were never going to use them again.”
But he stressed: “I’m looking forward to the defence review coming out. It will reinforce Plymouth’s role in defending the nation.
“The world is a darker place and we don’t need just to spend more on defence but spend better than we have done in the past. That means retiring older platforms that we are familiar with but are not suitable for modern war fighting and spending more of the budget with British companies. There is a really big opportunity for Babcock to create more skills.”
Mr Pollard said there would also be a boost for small companies. He said: “The MoD only spent 4% of our budget on SMEs, down from 5% five years ago. We want more money to go to create British jobs and there are SMEs here in Plymouth today, doing something like tech or data or non-defence marine systems, so we will spend more money with SMEs because we know that small businesses are where innovation comes from.
“We know there’s enormous potential around skills and innovation if we spend more of our increased defence budget with SMEs, and that means businesses in Plymouth that do not currently support the MoD, but we want them to.”
Last month, the prime minister announced the Government will increase defence spending to 2.5% of the UK’s economic output by 2027, something which ministers think will help drive economic growth and create jobs across the UK. The Government’s drive to boost defence spending comes as the UK and its allies ramp up efforts to place Ukraine in a strong position for peace talks, and establish a peacekeeping force which would police a peace deal in the eastern European country.
But Russia has poured cold water on suggestions it could accept a ceasefire if the so-called “coalition of the willing" was deployed in Ukraine. Alongside the mission, European nations and the EU have committed to rearm and boost their defence spending.
Mr Starmer visited Barrow to lay the keel of the first of the Dreadnought class of submarines, a fleet of four vessels that will make up the next generation of the UK’s nuclear deterrent, replacing the Vanguard Class. Devonport dockyard is providing engineering services for the Dreadnought Class subs and the Astute Class subs, which are taking over from the Trafalgar Class.
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