Minister for Industry (): The Government committed
to updating Parliament on British Steel every four sitting weeks
for the duration of the period of special measures being applied
under the Steel Industry (Special Measures) Act 2025.
The Government's priority remains to maintain the safe operation
of the blast furnaces at British Steel. Government officials are
continuing to provide on-site support in Scunthorpe, ensuring
uninterrupted domestic steel production and monitoring the use of
taxpayer funds.
On funding, the position remains that all Government funding for
British Steel will be drawn from existing budgets, within the
spending envelope set out at Spring Statement 2025. To date, we
have provided approximately £370 million for working capital,
covering items such as raw materials and salaries. This will be
reflected in the Department for Business and Trade's accounts for
2025-26.
We continue to work with Jingye to find a pragmatic, realistic
solution for the future of the site. Once a solution is found, we
will terminate the directions issued to British Steel under the
Act and make a statement on the need to retain, or repeal, the
legislation. As we have stated previously, our long-term
aspiration for the UK steel sector will require co-investment
with the private sector. Across the steel sector, private sector
involvement enables modernisation and decarbonisation and
safeguards taxpayers' money.
Impact Assessment relating to the Steel Industry (Special
Measures) Act 2025
The Impact Assessment (IA) relating to the Steel Industry
(Special Measures) Act 2025 published on 22 January focuses on
the rationale and impacts of the Act, namely providing
optionality to address the risk that financially distressed
owners could trigger unmanaged closures of major UK steel assets
leading to irreversible loss of domestic steelmaking capability.
The IA can be accessed here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/steel-industry-special-measures-bill-2025-final-impact-assessment
