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 economic effect on the UK steel sector of losing access to the Research Fund for Coal and Steel as a result of the UK leaving the EU; and what steps he is taking support that sector.

The Government recognises the importance of R&D to help transform the steel sector so it can play a vital role within our modern Industrial Strategy. Increasing investment in R&D was one of the key recommendations in our 2017 Future capacities and capabilities of the UK steel industry study (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-steel-industry-future-market-opportunities), which sets out how the industry can increase its profitability and sustainability.

The Government’s priority remains ensuring that the Withdrawal Agreement is ratified. This would ensure that UK entities’ right to participate in the Research Fund for Coal and Steel – including bidding for funding – would be unaffected until the end of 2020.

We are considering options for supporting R&D in steel beyond 2020 and will continue to work with the sector, unions and Devolved Administrations to develop a viable long-term solution. The Government will decide on science and innovation expenditure, including on R&D for steel, in the next Spending Review.