What a surviving Royal Dockyard could provide

Could maintaining a Royal Dockyard have eased the problems identified in the report on British shipbuilding?

Yes; it would add competition, cost visibility, production continuity, and extra specialist capacity.

A retained Royal Dockyard would give the government a direct comparison for private shipbuilding costs and provide competition where few suppliers remained. Keeping the yard employed would also encourage a steadier rate of production. Its facilities could offer another place to build nuclear submarines or other warships. Barrow illustrates the concern about monopoly supply because its submarine work overwhelmingly serves the Royal Navy, even with the Australian work discussed under AUKUS.