News story

UK defence procurement spend worth more than £1.7 billion a year to Scotland

New figures today show Ministry of Defence (MOD) procurement spend in Scotland has risen to £1.76 billion in 2018/19, the fifth year running there has been an increase

• From: Office of the Secretary of State for Scotland and Ministry of Defence
• Published: 30 January 2020

This was published under the 2019 to 2022 Johnson Conservative government

This is up from £1.64 billion the previous year and an increase in per person spend to £320.

And the number of Scottish industry jobs this supports has increased from 10,100 to 10,200.

UK Government Minister for Scotland Douglas Ross said:

These figures show that not only does defence play a crucial part in the security of the United Kingdom but it also contributes to Scotland’s prosperity in high-skilled employment and investment.

The UK Government is ensuring this continues. We have announced that Babcock – including its key Rosyth yard – will build the MOD’s Type 31 Frigate keeping Scotland at the forefront of a renaissance in UK shipbuilding. The Type 26 programme has already secured 4,000 Scottish jobs and 20 years of work on the Clyde.

Our nation has a proud military history, and also a bright future in Scotland and across the rest of the UK.

Thousands of regular personnel and reserves are based in Scotland.

A further 550 extra military personnel and their families will be based in Moray by 2024 and the numbers of personnel at Her Majesty’s Naval Base on the Clyde is also increasing.

The MOD’s equipment plan is supporting Scottish business, jobs and skills far into the future; helping to make Scotland one of the most competitive places in the world to innovate, build business and deliver security.

Scotland will see a further £1.5 billion of defence investment in infrastructure over a 10-year period on improved facilities at Faslane, Coulport and RAF Lossiemouth.

Further benefits of defence investment in Scotland include:

• Scotland’s HMNB Clyde will be home to all of UK’s submarines by 2020.

• RAF Lossiemouth is one of the RAF’s three fast jet operating bases, including Quick Response Alert (QRA) interceptors. It will soon be home to an additional Typhoon squadron.

• The first of 9 Boeing P-8 Maritime Patrol Aircraft will arrive in Scotland shortly.

• In total, RAF Lossiemouth will benefit from around £400 million of investment.

• Boeing and the UK Government are building a new £100 million operational support and training facility for Poseidon, creating more than 100 new jobs.

MOD Regional Expenditure with industry statistics 2018/19

Published 30 January 2020