British Steel

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The MP questioned whether the UK will be able to produce virgin steel if all blast furnaces are decommissioned, and how many G20 countries cannot produce their own virgin steel. She inquired about guarantees on job security when offering financial support to British Steel, and sought information on the government's awareness of the company’s upcoming announcement and timely responses to her letters. Additionally, she requested details on government support for North Lincolnshire Council's initiatives.

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Questions the status of ongoing negotiations, inquires about delays in carbon capture technology due to government infrastructure issues over 13 years, uncertainties around green hydrogen for DRI solutions, confirms job loss figures post transition to electric arc furnaces at Scunthorpe and Redcar.

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Expresses concern over national security implications and challenges with global competitors. Questions the Minister’s commitment to producing virgin steel as a major economy.

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Expresses concern for workers affected by transition and emphasises importance of virgin steelmaking for security and construction demands. Questions plans for just transition and development of hydrogen furnaces.

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Acknowledges the need for primary steel at net zero and questions if this logic applies to maintaining capability in UK.

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The announcement comes at a time when an analysis shows that the Department’s budget is set for a 16% real-terms cut in the years ahead. Is it the policy of His Majesty’s Government that blast furnaces will stay in operation in our country and that we will not be dependent on imports of primary steel? When can we expect a conclusion to the negotiations and some safeguarding of the vital industry either at Tata or at British Steel?

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Much of the arc furnace capacity is being moved away from Scunthorpe or not put in Scunthorpe because of a lack of grid capacity. That electrical grid capacity is due to be increased. If she were to accelerate the increase to 2025, we may save many more jobs in Scunthorpe. Will she seek to do that?

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Yorkshire and the Humber is one of the great centres of steelmaking—in our area, there were more than 8,000 jobs in steelmaking, the last time that was counted—but how many jobs will be left when the Minister has finished with her cuts? Has she noticed that whenever the Conservative party is in government, it deindustrialises further? Unite the union—I declare an interest as a member—is saying that if the Government would commit to procurement of steel for all our relevant contracts, 8,000 further jobs could be created. What exactly does she make of that? Has she met representatives of the union to discuss that matter?

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I fully endorse all the comments of my neighbour, my hon. Friend the Member for Scunthorpe (Holly Mumby-Croft). Many hundreds of my constituents work at British Steel, and I have a British Steel terminal on Immingham docks in my constituency. What assessment have the Department and the Treasury made of the impact on the local economy if the changes go ahead? The Minister talked about support for workers who may be made redundant. I have witnessed the decline of the fishing industry in the Grimsby-Cleethorpes area, which has ripped the core out of the community, who need generations of support. What plans will the Government put in place to ensure that that happens?

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The Minister will know that Shotton steelworks rely on steel from Port Talbot. What assurances can she give on the supply of steel between the closure of the blast furnaces and the installation of new electric arc furnaces?

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Supporting British Steel need not be just about money; it can be about ensuring that the Government are joining the dots for industry and explaining the pipeline of work available to it. With the Dreadnought and SSN-AUKUS programmes, we have generations of need for virgin steel. The same goes for the new nuclear programme. Will my hon. Friend confirm that the Government are doing that work and signalling to British Steel that the demand is there? Also, where we have control over procurement, are we ensuring that we lean towards the British market?

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The Minister seems to be ignoring events in south Wales last week. I met steelworkers from Llanwern last week, who understandably are deeply worried following speculation about the closure of the blast furnaces at Port Talbot. What conditions were attached to the £500 million grant agreed with Tata? Was this the agreed plan? What are the Government actually doing to safeguard jobs?

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The Government have supported a coalmine in west Cumbria that will produce coking coal, which is used in steel production. Does the Minister agree that it would be sensible for strategic reasons—which should override commercial reasons—to retain virgin steel production capacity in this country, and that from a practical perspective the coal mined in Cumbria could be used in the production of steel in Scunthorpe? Will she take into consideration the wider issues in the policy decisions that she may make?

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The official march of the Royal Navy includes the words, “Heart of oak are our ships”. In the 21st century, virgin steel is the critical industry for the Royal Navy, in the way that timber was in the 18th century. I am the first to want reduced carbon emissions, but this move sounds more like offshoring than about reducing carbon emissions. What consideration have the Government given to the supply of steel to the defence industry?

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I commend my hon. Friend the Member for Scunthorpe (Holly Mumby-Croft) for her dogged campaign in respect of steel; she is a real champion for her constituents. This week’s news is bittersweet, as Teesside welcomes the return of steelmaking. Will the Minister outline what the whole Government are doing to support my hon. Friend’s constituents at this time, and what use of carbon capture and storage is being explored to ensure that we continue to produce our own virgin steel?

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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?

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Does the Minister not accept that it is a matter of national security that we should retain the ability to create primary steel in this country?

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Some of the mightiest structures made of steel were built in my constituency, in the Nigg yard—I worked there myself once upon a time. The hon. Member for Scunthorpe (Holly Mumby-Croft) talked about the strategic importance of the industry. May I point out to the Government that it is as important to my constituency in the far north of Scotland as it is to any other parts of our great United Kingdom?

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The feedstock for the Trostre tinplate works in Llanelli is steel of a quality that can currently only be produced in the blast furnace process. Following the devastating news that Port Talbot blast furnaces will be closed by the end of March, leaving Trostre dependent on imported steel—quite possibly produced to lower environmental standards abroad, and certainly not saving on emissions—may I ask the Minister to stop just quoting commercial decisions, and tell us what strategy the Government have to develop the green technologies of the future here in the UK and to keep virgin steel production here as well?

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The move to net zero should deliver tens of thousands of long-term, well-paid, green industrial jobs, but with her Government’s sticking-plaster policies the Minister is destroying both jobs and sovereign national capability. Is it really her intention to leave behind her a British steel sector that cannot make British virgin steel, and if not, what is her plan? Labour has an industrial strategy for green steel; why does she not have one as well?

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Last Wednesday morning, Tata Steel executives in Port Talbot summoned the workforce to tell them of the plan to shut down our entire virgin steel making capability by March 2024. This was utterly shocking because it involves importing millions of tonnes of steel from the other side of the world. The transition board knows that electric arc furnaces need products of virgin steel making such as iron and iron ore, which is why we need direct reduced iron capability. Does the Minister not agree that the idea of this process is that it should be a transition? It needs to be a bridge, not a potentially lethal cliff edge.

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We have committed to a net zero target, but consideration must be given to the potential loss of 1,500 to 2,000 jobs, which could be gone from the industry. We have been told that the two furnace closures could put further employment at risk for many. What steps will be taken to ensure that the steel sector and industry jobs throughout the whole of the United Kingdom will be protected? The UK is No. 7 in the world for manufacturing; steel is a key part of that.

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Does the Minister accept that this news gives up on the UK’s capability to produce primary steel?

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This is a question of national security. It is not just a commercial decision. A specific question was asked of the Minister by the shadow Secretary of State on job losses specifically in Scunthorpe. Is that figure of 2,000 correct?