Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Steel Industry

Thursday 29 June 2023 · 2 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 1 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Government are actively engaging with the steel industry for a sustainable future.
  • Government provided 35 million in direct funding to support steel since 2020.
  • Government acknowledge the challenge of decarbonising the steel sector globally.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Jessica Morden Lab Newport East
Business & Trade
Context

The MP is concerned about the steel industry's sustainability and the need for government assistance.

Question

What steps she is taking to help support the steel industry. The Government are actively engaging with the steel industry for a sustainable future, and my right hon. Friend the Business Secretary recently visited Tata and British Steel to see work that is under way.

Answer from Nusrat Ghani

The Government are actively engaging with the steel industry for a sustainable future, and my right hon. Friend the Business Secretary recently visited Tata and British Steel to see work that is under way. Since 2020 the Government have provided some £35 million in direct funding to support steel producers, on top of the hundreds of millions of pounds in energy price relief for the sector since 2013.

Answered
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Q2 Jessica Morden Lab Newport East
Economy Climate Energy
Context

The MP supports the steelworkers' demand for government assistance to help the industry decarbonise and is disappointed with the Prime Minister's response.

Question

I echo the earlier comments of my hon. Friend the Member for Aberavon (Stephen Kinnock) on the greater need for support to help our steel sector decarbonise. Steelworkers from my constituency rallied in Parliament Square yesterday, calling for the Government to support our steel sector, yet they will have heard the Prime Minister's poor response to my hon. Friend the Member for Ogmore (Chris Elmore) at Prime Minister's questions, when he merely referred to pre-existing packages of support and funding that was not exclusive to steel in the first place. When will the Government accept the scale of the challenge and commit to helping?

Answer from Nusrat Ghani

We accept the scale of the challenge; it is a global challenge to decarbonise the sector and many countries are feeling it. However, a potential £1 billion in support is not a small measure—it is a large measure. Dealing with the procurement process to ensure that we have UK contractors securing UK steel in their programmes of work is not a small task, nor is dealing with energy prices. We have provided more than £730 million. When the sector needs support and we know it is a valid use of taxpayers' money, we have stepped in, such as with the more than £30 million in Government loans to Celsa Steel in 2020. That secured 1,800 jobs, and the money has been returned to the taxpayer.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The commitment to decarbonise is acknowledged but not directly addressed with specific timelines or actions.

How: Dealing With Energy Prices, Not A Small Task

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