Oral Answers to Questions
Debate between Nusrat Ghani and Alex Cunningham(1 month, 3 weeks ago)
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Ms Ghani
There has not really been a loss in the market share. I have talked about what is happening internationally. We appreciate that small and medium-sized enterprises may not have the resources they need to export into new markets. That is why we have the UK Export Academy, international trade advisers, Help to Grow and the export support service. We are also looking at what trade barriers we can break down and bust to make it even easier for SMEs to access new markets through the trade deals secured by the Secretary of State.
Alex Cunningham (Stockton North) (Lab)
The Minister for Industry and Economic Security (Ms Nusrat Ghani)
Our commitment to the UK steel sector is clear. The Government are contributing up to £500 million in a joint investment with Tata Steel. We are in talks with British Steel following our generous offers of support. We have delivered more than £730 million in energy costs relief since 2013, and the British industry supercharger is coming soon. We updated our procurement policy note to ensure we are procuring more in the UK, and we are trying to do everything we can to continue to support the steel sector.
Alex Cunningham
We are all disappointed that the Government, having abandoned Teesside steel several years ago, are now ready to give up on primary steelmaking in the UK and to rely on recycled material utilising electric arc furnaces. I am pleased to hear that Teesside is pencilled in for one of them, but not so pleased that there have been attempts locally to circumvent proper procedures to secure planning consent. Will the Minister look into that? More importantly, will she confirm that the Government have a final copper-bottomed agreement with the industry that the furnace will definitely be built on Teesside?
Ms Ghani
A number of the issues that the hon. Gentleman raises are fundamentally locally. We work closely with Mayor Ben Houchen, who has done a remarkable amount of work for his part of the country. The reality is that the steel sector was placed in an area of uncertainty for some time. We were able to provide support for Tata, which has ensured that the steelworks continue at Port Talbot. We provided the largest grant ever made available to steel, and we are now in conversation with British Steel. That is what it means to have a long- term steel strategy to ensure that steelmaking continues here in the UK.
British Steel
Debate between Nusrat Ghani and Alex Cunningham(5 months, 3 weeks ago)
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Ms Ghani
I of course agree with my hon. Friend’s first point: there is nobody more vocal about steel than my hon. Friend the Member for Scunthorpe (Holly Mumby-Croft). We have had a number of programmes in place to support the steel sector, because it has a number of challenges, as it has in many continental European countries. Fundamentally, Putin’s invasion of Ukraine caused energy costs to skyrocket, and we had in place an energy costs relief scheme for the steel sector, which has been worth up to £730 million since 2013. We now have the supercharger in place; I have spoken about the steel procurement policy note to ensure that there is more UK steel procured in UK markets; and, obviously, we provided support for Tata recently and Celsa previously. We are doing everything that we can—with my hon. Friend the Member for Scunthorpe, of course—to get the best deal possible for Scunthorpe, but these are commercial decisions and they are ongoing.
Alex Cunningham (Stockton North) (Lab)
It is clear from today’s comments that the Government are set to abandon more than 2,000 steelworkers in Scunthorpe, just as they abandoned over 3,000 on Teesside eight years ago. That said, I too welcome the news of a new arc furnace for Redcar, but let me give the Minister yet another chance to answer the question from the hon. Member for Scunthorpe (Holly Mumby-Croft) and others: are the Government really going to settle for recycled steel and foreign imports, and consign virgin steelmaking in the UK to history?
Ms Ghani
Recycled steel can be recycled infinite times, so it does a huge amount for the circular economy. Because of the way technology has moved on, steel can now be used in many more sectors. We have a huge surplus of scrap steel, which we end up exporting to countries such as Turkey, Bangladesh and Pakistan. We could be reusing that in the UK economy. But as I said, these are commercial decisions and nothing has been concluded. The statement put out by British Steel was a plan or a proposal.