Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons the Government did not apply to the European Globalisation Fund to secure financial support for those affected by the closure of SSI Redcar in 2015.

The UK has not made any applications to the European Globalisation Adjustment Fund (EGF).

The European Globalisation Fund (EGF) provides a financial contribution for active labour market measures, aimed at reintegrating those made or at risk of being made redundant in the labour market. EGF Regulations state that these measures must complement actions at national, regional and local level.

The EGF Regulations also set out strict criteria and eligibility for potential applicants with regards to the number of redundancies that take place over a given period of time and the link between these redundancies and globalisation or the global financial and economic crisis.

The UK already offers a broad range of personalised support to workers made redundant through its Rapid Response Service and Jobcentre Plus, which could therefore not be duplicated or substituted by EGF.

The Rapid Response Service and the Jobcentre Plus Core Offer are effective reintegration tools which represent good value for money and are our primary and most effective means of response to support the industry.

In addition to this, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills also announced packages of support worth up to £80 million for SSI in Redcar.

It has, therefore, not been necessary to make an application for EGF funding to provide complementary support.