Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the opportunities to support the UK steel industry through public procurement policies.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government wants to see more use of UK-made steel in public projects, whilst respecting our national and international legal obligations. The latest steel public procurement data shows that in the financial year 2024-2025, where all the steel required could be produced in the UK, 95% of the steel procured by central government buyers was UK produced.
That said, we continue to strengthen mechanisms to enable the public procurement of UK-made steel. Updated steel procurement guidance (Public Procurement Policy Notice 022) was introduced in June 2025 and requires all in-scope organisations for all new relevant steel procurements to consult UK Steel’s digital catalogue before making procurement decisions and encourages them to consider if the national security exemption under the Procurement Act applies.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the opportunities to mandate greater use of UK-made steel in publicly funded projects.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The government wants to see more use of UK-made steel in public projects, whilst respecting our national and international legal obligations. The latest steel public procurement data shows that in the financial year 2024-2025, where all the steel required could be produced in the UK, 95% of the steel procured by central government buyers was UK produced.
That said, we continue to strengthen mechanisms to enable the public procurement of UK-made steel. Updated steel procurement guidance (Public Procurement Policy Notice 022) was introduced in June 2025 and requires all in-scope organisations for all new relevant steel procurements to consult UK Steel’s digital catalogue before making procurement decisions and encourages them to consider if the national security exemption under the Procurement Act applies.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure British steel manufacturers are not undercut by imported high emission steel manufacturers.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
A successful steel industry is critical to a vibrant and secure economy. The UK is taking action on industrial decarbonisation to meet net zero, but we recognise that imports into the UK will often not be subject to the same standards, creating a risk of carbon leakage. That is why the UK has committed to introduce a UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) from 1 January 2027. The CBAM will ensure that highly traded, carbon-intensive goods from sectors in scope (including the steel sector) that are imported into the UK, face a comparable carbon price to those produced domestically. This will support UK decarbonisation efforts to lead to a true reduction in global emissions rather than simply displacing carbon emissions overseas, and give industry confidence to invest in the UK knowing their decarbonisation efforts will not be undermined.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to strengthen domestic supply chains for steel following the publication of the Defence Industrial Strategy 2025 in September 2025.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The steel strategy, to be published in early 2026, will set out a long-term vision for a competitive, decarbonised sector, with the aim of attracting new private investment to secure UK steelmaking.
We’re providing up to £2.5 billion to rebuild the steel sector, delivered in part through the National Wealth Fund. This is in addition to the £500m we have invested in the transformation of Port Talbot. We have also taken direct action to protect steel production at British Steel and provided a £400 million increase to the investment at Sheffield Forgemasters.
In addition, we have cut electricity costs for steelmakers, changed procurement guidance so UK steel is considered for more public projects, and are working to protect our industry from unfair competition.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the environmental impact of allowing steel importers to use global average emissions when selling steel to the UK; and what assessment they have made of the impact of this provision on competitiveness of UK steel producers.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The UK is taking rapid action on industrial decarbonisation to meet net zero, but we recognise that imports into the UK will often not be subject to the same standards, creating a risk of carbon leakage. That is why the UK has committed to introduce a UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) from 1 January 2027. The UK CBAM will use one global default emissions value per CBAM good where emissions are not or cannot be provided to determine the CBAM liability. We will work with HM Treasury to assess the impact of this approach and ensure we mitigate the risk of under-pricing the most emissions intensive imports when designing these values.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government, following the increase in energy prices and the tariffs on UK steel imports to the United States of America, when will the steel strategy be published.
Answered by Baroness Lloyd of Effra - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government is committed to supporting the UK steel sector. We are cutting electricity costs for steel producers by reducing network charges via the British Industry Supercharger by 90%, up from 60%, as announced in our Industrial Strategy.
We are also ensuring the long-term viability and competitiveness of the sector through the steel strategy. A robust position on trade is a critical element of this strategy, underpinning our approach to defending against unfair practices and global overcapacity. We are prioritising developing robust measures in light of the UK steel safeguard expiring in June 2026 to protect our domestic sector and secure stable and reliable supply chains, and engaging with our partners. We will therefore publish the steel strategy in early 2026.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to bring forward the date of launching the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme so that businesses facing problems with energy costs can benefit before 2027.
Answered by Lord Stockwood - Minister of State (HM Treasury)
The Government recognises the importance of action to tackle high energy costs for businesses. The British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS) will exempt eligible businesses from indirect costs of the Renewables Obligation, Feed-in Tariffs and the Capacity Market. Implementation timelines for BICS are determined by the operating cycles of those three schemes. April 2027 is therefore the earliest that BICS can feasibly be delivered.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what action they are taking to improve the quality and consistency of sorted scrap metal to meet future demand for electric arc furnace steelmaking in the UK.
Answered by Lord Leong - Lord in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Government recognises that the UK steel industry's shift towards electric arc furnaces will significantly elevate the importance of high-quality scrap as a material for UK steelmaking. Consequently, the Government is committed to securing an ample supply of high-quality scrap, while also ensuring the market remains fair and beneficial for all stakeholders. We are actively listening to the perspectives of all involved parties and will be exploring various options to address this issue.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to support the steel industry by reducing their electricity costs.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
Government is committed to tackling high industrial electricity prices in the UK. This is why Government has taken action to mitigate high electricity costs for energy intensive industries by continuing the Energy Intensive Industries compensation scheme and implementing the British Industry Supercharger.
The Plan for Steel, which will be published in Spring, will address electricity prices for steelmakers. We are committed to providing up to £2.5bn to rebuild steel industry which will be available through the National Wealth Fund and other routes.
Asked by: Baroness Redfern (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review the role of Groceries Code Adjudicator and whether it should be a full-time appointment.
Answered by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch
The Groceries Code Adjudicator (GCA) is appointed by the Secretary of State and holds and vacates office as the Adjudicator in accordance with the terms of their appointment.
The government will undertake the fourth statutory review of the GCA in 2025. The review must consider how much the Adjudicator’s powers have been exercised and assess how effective the Adjudicator has been in enforcing the Groceries Supply Code of Practice over the review period. The government will give all interested parties the opportunity to contribute to this review.