Written Statements

Tuesday 3rd November 2026 Written Statements

Tuesday 3 November 2026

British Steel

Tuesday 3rd November 2026 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (Blair McDougall)]

During the passage of the Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Act 2026, the Government promised to provide regular updates to Parliament on British Steel. In line with the Act’s provisions, British Steel entered public ownership on 16 July 2026. This statement provides an update on the financial and operational performance of British Steel under public ownership and the company’s governance and strategic direction.

Governance and strategic direction

In July 2026, Ministers appointed a new board of directors. This was followed by the appointment of Alan Lovell as chair in September. Two further board members are shareholder non-executive directors representing Government, one from the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade and one from UK Government Investments.

Mr Lovell and the board’s immediate priorities include overseeing the stabilisation of British Steel, maintaining a strong focus on health and safety, and developing proposals for a commercially and environmentally sustainable future for the business. As set out in the steel strategy, securing the long-term future of Britain’s steel capability and capacity will require both public and private investment.

The chair, in consultation with the Department, is also looking to strengthen the board and management team to ensure it has the capacity and capability to address the objectives. The board is currently recruiting a non-executive director to chair its audit, risk and assurance committee. Further appointments are expected, and the Government will monitor progress closely.

Governance arrangements, including how the relationship between Government and British Steel will work in practice, will be set out in the British Steel framework document, in line with standard practice for Government-owned companies. The framework document will be published shortly.

Financial and operational performance

British Steel has continued to trade and operate across its sites, maintaining steel production and supplies to customers. Since April 2025, the Government have provided £751 million in working capital support for British Steel. This funding has supported the continued operation of the business, including expenditure on raw materials and salaries.

The guarantees the Secretary of State gave to Npower Commercial Gas Ltd and SEFE Energy Ltd, to keep British Steel’s energy supplies in place while the company was under the Steel Industry (Special Measures) Act 2025, are no longer needed now the company is in public ownership. The Department gave formal notice to both suppliers on 27 August 2026, and both guarantees ended on 10 September 2026, without being utilised.

British Steel has enhanced governance and accountability for its safety improvement plan, with implementation ongoing for all 34 initiatives scheduled for year 1. The Government and board will continue to press for sustained improvements and ensure that health and safety remains at the heart of the company’s operational and transformation plans.

The Government welcome the scrutiny provided by the Public Accounts Committee and are carefully considering their recommendations as part of ongoing work to ensure appropriate governance, transparency and value for money at British Steel.

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Intergovernmental Relations Engagement Dashboard

Tuesday 3rd November 2026 Written Statements

[The Minister for Intergovernmental Relations and European Relations (Mr Hamish Falconer)]

The UK Government’s commitment to working in partnership with the devolved Governments continues to be reflected in the depth and consistency of engagement.

This reporting period, particularly April to June, directly covers the pre and post-election periods for the Senedd and Scottish Parliament. While opportunities for meetings between Governments were therefore lower than in 2025, the level of engagement remained high, demonstrating the steady and frequent nature of UK Government ministerial engagement with devolved Government counterparts.

Beyond formal forums such as the Interministerial Standing Committee, Ministers and their devolved Government counterparts met across a wide range of policy areas—from industrial strategy and trade agreements to welfare reform and getting people back into work—demonstrating that collaborative working is embedded across Governments. This pattern of engagement reflects a clear principle: that the most effective solutions for people across the United Kingdom are found when Governments work together.

The Prime Minister has been clear about his commitment to delivering good growth and real progress across all four nations of the United Kingdom and working with the devolved Governments to tackle shared challenges. The publication of this dashboard demonstrates this Government’s continued commitment to the devolution settlements and genuine partnership with the devolved Governments—working together to deliver for people in every part of the United Kingdom.

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COP31

Tuesday 3rd November 2026 Written Statements

[The Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero (Miatta Fahnbulleh)]

COP31 in Türkiye comes at a pivotal moment for global climate action. The world is experiencing the accelerating impacts of climate change alongside acute pressures from energy insecurity, economic uncertainty and geopolitical instability. This summer showed climate change is no longer a distant threat. Here in Britain, we saw record heatwaves, droughts and wildfires. Homes were destroyed as fires raged, and extreme heat closed schools across the land and strained our NHS and public services.

The first duty of Government is to protect our communities. And the reality is that Britain cannot tackle a challenge of this scale alone. Climate change does not respect borders, which is why working with other countries through processes like the conference of the parties remains so important. While the scale and severity of the impact varies country to country, it has consequences for us all, right now.

The only way to safeguard our security and unlock the jobs and growth we need for our shared future prosperity is to accelerate the clean energy transition and strengthen our resilience in this new age of extreme weather—from flooding to wildfires—driven by climate change. The UK has a strong history of action on climate change and we remain committed to our clean energy transition, to climate action and to supporting others around the world. Working multilaterally is in the collective interest and in the UK’s interest.

The science is clear: we will exceed 1.5°C, likely by 2030. But this remains the right goal, and we are committed to following the science and to limiting the scale and duration of any overshoot as much as possible. We must use this point in time wisely—it must be the impetus for us to double down on reducing emissions and helping people to adapt to these new circumstances. We must limit temperature rise as much as we can to secure a safer future.

The decisions taken, and commitments made, at COP31 will help determine whether the world can accelerate action to meet the goals of the Paris agreement while delivering greater security, resilience and prosperity for people across the world.

The Prime Minister has set out his intention to attend COP31 in Türkiye, demonstrating this Government’s commitment to meeting the climate challenge and working with international partners to deliver the action needed in response to the growing impacts of climate change. I will attend COP31 and will lead the UK delegation during the negotiations. The Foreign Secretary will also attend COP31, reflecting the importance of climate action to the UK’s international partnerships, security and prosperity.

Our priority at COP31 is to work with all countries to keep 1.5°C within reach, by accelerating the transition to clean energy and electrification, tackling methane emissions, protecting forests and oceans, strengthening our resilience to a changing climate while unlocking finance to deliver all of these objectives. We also want to unlock the opportunities to drive forward clean growth.

So, at COP31 we will work with other countries to:

Accelerate the transition to clean energy and electrification and nature-positive economies. As we drive forward our transition to clean energy and electrify our economy at home, the UK will work with other countries to do the same. This is key to reducing exposure to volatile fossil fuel markets, bringing energy bills down, delivering energy security while unlocking opportunities for jobs, growth and investment.

Spotlight the need for global action on methane. The fastest way to slow near-term warming is to curb methane and other super-pollutants. At COP31 we will continue to press for wider action on this critical issue.

We will also push for progress to protect the critical ecosystems on which we rely, including forests and oceans; to support more sustainable food and agriculture systems, including fertilisers, and the transition to a circular economy; and to respond to the risks that climate change and biodiversity loss pose to national security.

Build resilience to the impacts of climate change, unlock finance and accelerate implementation of commitments countries have already made. The climate crisis is not a future threat but a present reality. At COP31 we will push for stronger practical action and a systemic approach to building resilience, particularly for the most vulnerable, and to reduce the impacts of the shocks we face from climate change. We need to make progress to unlock finance, including by mobilising private capital more effectively, and improving access to and quality of finance for the energy transition and adaptation and resilience.

In the negotiations, we must uphold the integrity of the Paris agreement and our collective commitment to limit warming to 1.5°C, even in the face of overshoot and grounded in the best available science. This is critical to build the foundations for a successful second global stocktake at COP33.

The transition is a major opportunity to unlock growth and investment for all countries. We want to maximise UK growth from the rapidly growing global green economy. Building on our own transition to clean energy and electrification at home, we can promote British expertise and clean solutions internationally.

The UK will continue to work constructively with all parties, international institutions, businesses, investors, cities, regions, indigenous peoples, civil society and communities to accelerate implementation of the commitments already agreed and secure further progress where it is needed. Success at COP31 will depend on countries working together to respond to the scale of the challenge while recognising the opportunities that climate action presents.

We will update the House in the usual way once negotiations have concluded.

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Access to Child Trust Funds

Tuesday 3rd November 2026 Written Statements

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Jake Richards)]

In 2005, child trust funds were created to give every eligible child a financial asset at the start of adulthood, with around 6.3 million accounts opened for eligible children.

However, when child trust funds were established, no specific provision was made for how the money could be accessed where a young person lacked the mental capacity to manage their financial affairs when they turned 18. This has meant that an estimated 63,000 to 126,000 young people have not been able to easily access and benefit from money that was set aside for them.

In those circumstances, families have had to go through what can be a lengthy and confusing process of getting a court order.

Parents and carers have campaigned for years to secure a fairer and more proportionate route to those funds. This Government have listened to these concerns and are determined to take action.

That is why today, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, my right hon. and learned Friend the Member for Northampton North (Lucy Rigby) and I are announcing that we will legislate to finally end this injustice to create a new scheme to allow easier access to child trust funds once the account holder turns 18, so that young people lacking mental capacity can easily benefit from the money in their accounts. The Government will be introducing an amendment to the Financial Services and Markets Bill. Subject to parliamentary approval, the amendment will enable the creation of a new scheme through secondary legislation. This will allow suitable people such as parents and carers to access and manage a young person’s child trust fund where that young person lacks the mental capacity to do so themselves.

The new scheme will provide a straightforward and proportionate route to access, while retaining appropriate safeguards to ensure that account holders and vulnerable people are protected. It will uphold the principles of the Mental Capacity Act 2005, and its definitions of lack of capacity and of best interests.

We currently anticipate that a suitable person, such as a parent, will be able to apply directly to the providers of child trust funds to access the funds. We will work with campaigners, disability charities and the finance sector to develop the details of the scheme to strike the right balance between safeguards and ease of access. This will include considering who will have permission to access the funds through this scheme, the evidence that will be needed to access funds and any other proportionate safeguards needed to protect young people who lack capacity.

The scheme will cover England and Wales only, recognising that Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own processes to access low-value assets, including child trust funds.

This scheme will not replace the important work of the Court of Protection, and applications to the Court will continue to be available in addition to this scheme to protect the financial interests of adults lacking mental capacity.

Change is long overdue. This is an important step in enabling people who lack capacity to easily access their money, which is why I am proud to be leading this work with the Economic Secretary to the Treasury.

Further details of the scheme will be set out as the legislation progresses.

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Pensions: Automatic Enrolment Reviews

Tuesday 3rd November 2026 Written Statements

[The Minister for Pensions (Torsten Bell)]

Automatic enrolment has transformed workplace pension saving for millions of workers. However, despite this success, the Government recognise that millions are still under-saving for their retirement. That is why we have revived the landmark Pensions Commission to finish the job we started 20 years ago. The commission will examine why tomorrow’s pensioners are on track to be poorer than today’s and make recommendations for change, with the final report due to be published in early 2027.

Automatic Enrolment Earnings Trigger and Qualifying Earnings Band Review 2027-28

It is against the backdrop of the commission’s work that I have considered and completed this year’s annual statutory review of the automatic enrolment thresholds, which are the earnings trigger and lower and upper earnings limits of the qualifying earnings band. The main focus of this year’s annual statutory review has been to ensure the continued stability of automatic enrolment for employers and individuals, particularly during the ongoing work of the Pensions Commission, which is looking to the future.

I have therefore concluded that all automatic enrolment thresholds for 2027-28 will be maintained at their 2026-27 levels.

The 2027-28 Annual Thresholds:

The automatic enrolment earnings trigger will remain at £10,000.

The lower earnings limit of the qualifying earnings band will remain at £6,240.

The upper earnings limit of the qualifying earnings band will remain at £50,270.

The alternative quality requirement triennial review 2026

In accordance with the statutory timetable, we have conducted a review of the regulations which introduced the alternative quality requirements for pension schemes being used for automatic enrolment into workplace pensions.

This review concluded that the alternative quality requirements for UK defined-benefit schemes set out in regulations, made under section 23A(1) of the Pensions Act 2008, should continue to remain in place without changes at this time.

The review also concluded that the tests set out in section 28(2A) of the Pensions Act 2008 continue to be satisfied.

The analysis supporting the thresholds review and the Government response to the call for evidence for the alternative quality requirements reviews will be published and copies placed in the Library of the House. They will both be available on the www.gov.uk website following publication.

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