Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of a UK Steel Charter to increase transparency of steel procurement in the UK.

The transparency of steel procurement is important to ensure UK steel companies can access as many opportunities as possible; that is why the Government introduced specific steel procurement guidance in 2016. This guidance enables central government departments to consider relevant socio-economic and environmental factors, whilst also considering factors of quality, reliability, and value for money when undertaking the procurement of steel.

The Government has also published this year compliance data from central government departments, which details that the relevant departments have fully complied with this guidance when procuring steel for major projects. In addition, we have published an update of the Steel Pipeline, signalling upcoming steel requirements for national infrastructure projects.

We will continue to improve awareness of the steel procurement guidance across the public sector, and have offered to support the UK steel sector in its efforts for progressive discussions with existing, and potential, private sector customers; this will allow the UK steel sector to explore the benefits of a local supply chain, and shall foster closer collaboration across the industry.