The Minister for Industry (Sarah Jones)
The Government committed to updating Parliament on British Steel every four sitting weeks for the duration of the period of special measures being applied under the Steel Industry Special Measures Act 2025.
The Government priority remains to maintain the safe operation of the blast furnaces at British Steel. To that end, Government officials are continuing to provide on-site support to continue steel production, ensure that health and safety issues are being remedied, stabilise operations and improve the steady state of the business.
This month, I am pleased to confirm that British Steel will be welcoming its first cohort of apprentices in over 3 years. The programme will offer apprentices a high-quality training experience blending technical knowledge and practical skills, while helping the business to develop its next generation of engineers and technical experts.
Work continues to develop an impact assessment, which will be published in due course following Regulatory Policy Committee scrutiny. We are also continuing work on regulations under section 7 of the Act, to introduce a compensation scheme for steel undertakings that have received a notice under the Act.
On funding, the position remains that all Government funding for British Steel will be drawn from existing budgets, within the spending envelope set out at spring statement 2025. To date, we have provided approximately £180 million for working capital, covering items such as raw materials, salaries, and addressing unpaid bills, including for SMEs in the supply chain. This will be reflected in the Department for Business and Trade’s accounts for 2025-26.
As I have stated previously, our long-term aspiration for British Steel will require private investment to enable modernisation and decarbonisation, support jobs, safeguard taxpayers’ money and retain steelmaking in Scunthorpe. We are continuing discussions with Jingye on options to achieve that objective.
The Government commitment to the steel sector goes beyond our intervention at British Steel and we continue to see tangible benefits resulting from the wide-ranging actions we have taken. Since early August, UK steelmakers have been able to export more construction grade steel to the EU tariff-free, following a major win secured at the UK-EU summit earlier in the year to restore our country-specific steel quota to historic levels. This bespoke agreement provides a significant boost to producers including British Steel, cutting costs and providing more certainty when exporting to one of our largest trading partners.
This builds on a series of recent milestones delivered under the plan for change, including targeted action to reduce electricity costs, strengthen procurement rules and bolster our trade defence measures. Looking ahead, we will be publishing a steel strategy later this year, setting out our long-term vision for a revitalised and sustainable industry and the actions needed to get there.
This is a pro-steel Government that are taking decisive steps to restore our steel industry after years of neglect. We are working to secure good jobs in Scunthorpe and other steelmaking communities for many years to come.
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