Measures to rewire the state

• Utility companies - including electricity, gas and water networks - will be expected to create British jobs and apprenticeships across the country as they invest for the future.
• The National Shipbuilding Office will be given oversight of all civil shipbuilding in government, ensuring all decisions are made in the national interest and provide value to the taxpayer.
• New Insourcing Unit based within the Office for Prime Minister and Cabinet to bring forward the biggest wave of insourcing in a generation.

Communities across the country are set to benefit from growth and good jobs as new measures are announced to put spending back in service of the public.

Utility companies

Earlier this year, the government brought central government spending back into service of the public, with new guidance ensuring that public spending brought skills and jobs to communities across the country.

Going further, the government has now made clear that utility companies, such as electricity, gas and water infrastructure providers, will also be expected to use their procurement to support jobs and skills in manufacturing. If companies do not follow the government's lead, legislation will be brought in when parliamentary time allows to ensure they act.

Shipbuilding

New measures will also ensure major government spending is firmly rooted in the national interest. The National Shipbuilding Office will be given oversight of all future civil ship procurement - providing a strategic centre to support the UK shipbuilding industry through a clearer and more predictable pipeline of demand, and enabling a simpler route for ship procurement, including working with our European allies to do so.

The Ministry of Defence will set out more detail for this in the National Shipbuilding Office's Shipbuilding and Maritime Technology Action Plan is released, which is planned for later this year.

The government has also announced a new research vessel for the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, to be built in the UK.

The build will be open only to UK shipyards. Defra has decided to apply the national security exemption in the Procurement Act 2023 to this contract, to help sustain the UK's sovereign shipbuilding capability, which the government has identified as critical to national security.

Replacing the RV Cefas Endeavour, the new vessel will lead a new national system for monitoring the UK's seas, including keeping track of fish stocks, pollution levels and mapping the seabed.

The vessel will use the latest technology, including automation, robotics and artificial intelligence, and will run on clean fuels, helping position the UK as a global leader in marine science while reducing environmental impact.

Insourcing Unit

A new unit based within the Office for the Prime Minister and Cabinet will be formed to coordinate departmental insourcing activity, unblock barriers to delivery and identify cross-government opportunities to maximise value for money and restore direct operational accountability.

The unit will consider insourcing critical service contracts, complementing the recently announced Public Interest Test which applies to most central government service contracts valued above £1 million. The unit will support the reduction of consultancy and professional services spending by building Civil Service talent and resources.

The unit will support departments on their insourcing activity, such as measures previously announced - that subject to completing a Public Interest Test, the Cabinet Office will look to bring its building management services, including cleaning and security staff, back in-house as soon as possible, with this process beginning when current contracts end in 2028.