Unions call for next generation frigates to be based at Devonport

Following the decision to base-port all of the Queen Elizabeth-class carriers at Portsmouth Naval Base, which has protected its future for next fifty years, unions are seeking reassurance that the majority of the next generation of frigates will be based at Devonport, securing the future of the largest naval operational base in Western Europe.

Without these assurances, the long term prognosis for Devonport is not rosy.

Recently, the Naval Base has seen the loss of submarine base-porting to Faslane and the decision to decommission HMS Ocean, alongside rumours that HMS Albion, HMS Bulwark and HMS Scott are also set to be decommissioned, which in a worst case scenario would leave Devonport with just three survey ships by the 2030s.

Unions believe that the port would then face questions about its long-term future after the decommissioning of the seven Devonport-based Type 23 frigates, starting in 2023.

The CSEU, a confederation made up of Members from the GMB and Unite unions is calling on local elected representatives Gary Streeter MP, Johnny Mercer MP, Luke Pollard MP, Sherryl Murray MP and the leader of Plymouth City Council Cllr Ian Bowyer to join their campaign and lobby the government to provide a long-term commitment to Devonport by basing all of the new frigates there.

Matthew Roberts, District Chair of the CSEU, said:

“Should the government choose not to base these ships at Devonport it could lead to a major long term reduction of work, threatening not only the naval base but the wider dockyard and its lucrative maintenance and refit work operated by Babcock International Group.

“There is a good case for us to have the new frigates here, with the size, facilities and capability of the yard and its workforce, and the popularity of the city and local area with naval personnel and officers.

“It is now critical for the future of Devonport Naval Base that the majority, or all, of next generation of frigates are based in the largest operational base in Western Europe.

“Put simply, Devonport is the biggest and the best.”