Asked by: Antonia Bance (Labour - Tipton and Wednesbury)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, if he will consider bringing the Contracts for Difference Scheme under the remit of the Procurement Policy Note for Steel and the national security clauses of the Procurement Act.
Answered by Michael Shanks - Minister of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
As set out in the recent UK Steel Strategy, the Clean Industry Bonus element of the Contracts for Difference (CfD) scheme rewards offshore wind developers if they use UK steel in their projects. There are currently no plans to bring the CfD scheme under the remit of the Procurement policy note for steel, and the National clauses of the Procurement Act 2023.
The Department is committed to working closely across Government and industry stakeholders to take forward the actions needed to develop supply chains that are resilient, sustainable, innovative and secure.
Asked by: Antonia Bance (Labour - Tipton and Wednesbury)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of restricting the UK CBAM to primary materials on imports of finished steel goods.
Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with HM Treasury)
For the introduction of the CBAM in 2027, the Government has focused on three factors to determine its scope: firstly, those sectors within scope of the UK Emissions Trading Scheme; secondly, those most at risk of carbon leakage; and thirdly, where effective implementation is feasible. As a result, for now we have focused on including the simplest (upstream) goods within the iron and steel, aluminium, cement, fertiliser and hydrogen sectors and the Government’s priority is to deliver an effective CBAM on these sectors for 1 January 2027.
The government will keep the list of products in scope of CBAM under review from 2027 onwards, to reflect the evolving carbon leakage context.
Asked by: Antonia Bance (Labour - Tipton and Wednesbury)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of reviewing public procurement policy to (a) incentivise and (b) require greater use of UK-made steel in publicly funding projects in the context of the decision of the Net Zero Teesside Power contract.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government knows it is important to communities across the country that we use UK-made steel. We are ambitious about increasing the use of UK made steel in UK energy and infrastructure projects where possible.
Net Zero Teesside is not a public procurement (so public procurement guidelines do not apply) but we have spoken to the project developer to understand more about the use of UK and non-UK steel, as well as the wider use of UK local content, in the project. They confirmed their voluntary commitment to achieve more than 50% UK content across the value chain, with around £1billion UK-based sub-contracts already awarded.
We want to champion UK steelmaking and our steel communities now and for generations to come and my colleagues at the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero are looking at how greater UK content will be used in future projects.
Asked by: Antonia Bance (Labour - Tipton and Wednesbury)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if his Department will expand the Energy Supercharger package to include a larger proportion of the steel industry and related sectors, including scrap.
Answered by Chris McDonald - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government remains committed to ensuring British businesses are internationally competitive and I recognise the pressure that energy costs place on the steel industry and related sectors.
A number of firms supporting the wider steel industry are currently eligible for the British Industry Supercharger and are benefiting from the recent uplift to the Network Charging Compensation Scheme. The Supercharger is being reviewed this year, and I encourage scrap and wider metals sectors to engage with the upcoming review.
The recovery of sorted material will become an eligible sector under the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme which will provide exemptions from April 2027.
Asked by: Antonia Bance (Labour - Tipton and Wednesbury)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 22 May 2026 to Question 1603 on Academies: Electric Vehicles, whether the review of electric vehicle salary sacrifice schemes for academy trusts has concluded; and when academy trusts will be permitted to (a) introduce new schemes and (b) expand existing schemes.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The department issued an update on 08 July, confirming that academy trusts can enter electric vehicle salary sacrifice schemes without seeking prior department approval from September 2026. Detailed guidance can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/electric-vehicle-salary-sacrifice-guidance-for-academy-trusts-and-colleges/electric-vehicle-salary-sacrifice-guidance-for-academy-trusts-and-colleges.
Asked by: Antonia Bance (Labour - Tipton and Wednesbury)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to publish the Police Remuneration Review Body’s report and her response to its recommendations for the 2026-27 police pay award.
Answered by Sarah Jones - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Government is giving very careful consideration to the recommendations recently submitted by the Police Remuneration Review Body. A decision will be announced in due course.
Asked by: Antonia Bance (Labour - Tipton and Wednesbury)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero on extending the Procurement Act and Procurement Policy Note for Steel to Contracts for Difference.
Answered by Chris Ward
Procurement Policy Notes issued by the Cabinet Office apply to all central government departments, non-departmental public bodies and executive agencies in line with the Cabinet Office's policy remit and apply to contracts in scope of the Procurement Act 2023.
Contracts for Difference (CfDs) act as a revenue guarantee scheme and therefore do not fall within the scope of the Procurement Act and related Procurement Policy Notes do not apply.
The Government remains committed to ensuring that projects supported by public funds, such as Contracts for Difference align with national priorities for economic growth. For offshore wind Contracts for Difference, the Clean Industry Bonus offers extra revenue to applicants who choose to invest in the economic, social and environmental sustainability of their supply chains, and for the latest Clean Industry Bonus round (which opened in May 2026), offshore wind developers can include UK steel manufacturers in their applications.
Asked by: Antonia Bance (Labour - Tipton and Wednesbury)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the University of Leeds report entitled Why doesn’t the UK make more Robots?, published in November 2025, what steps her Department is taking to help support the domestic manufacture of robotics and autonomous systems, including to support national security and productivity.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
Initiatives to support manufacture of robotics and autonomous systems include the £99m Made Smarter programme which funds the development and commercialisation of industrial digital technologies, including robotics, and supports their adoption by manufacturing SMEs. The Manufacturing Technology Centre, part of the Catapult network of research centres, has launched an accelerator programme offering a range of support to develop robotics and automation solutions.
Asked by: Antonia Bance (Labour - Tipton and Wednesbury)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the University of Leeds report entitled Why doesn’t the UK make more Robots?, published in November 2025, what steps she is taking to help reduce skills gaps within the domestic robotics industry.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
In February 2026, Government launched the Robotics Adoption Skills Development Programme which will provide up to £2.5m for projects to develop and deliver course content and materials to support skills, talent and training in robotics. This seeks to address the skills gaps in being able to procure, integrate, operate and maintain robotics and autonomous systems. Other examples include the Manufacturing Technology Centre providing a range of robotics training and skills packages, the UK Atomic Energy Authority offering specialised robotics and remote handling courses and the ACORN accelerator which funds training and collaboration in nuclear robotics.
Asked by: Antonia Bance (Labour - Tipton and Wednesbury)
Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:
To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, with reference to the University of Leeds report entitled Why doesn’t the UK make more Robots?, published in November 2025, what steps she is taking to help tackle scaling barriers for UK-designed and manufactured robotics and autonomous systems.
Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Minister of State (Cabinet Office) (Jointly with the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Technology)
Government measures to support robotics firms to scale up in the UK includes crowding-in private sector investment via the British Business Bank and National Wealth Fund, both with expanded capitalisations and a mandate to support companies aligned with the Industrial Strategy. The Regulatory Innovation Office (RIO) assesses UK’s approach to regulation to ensure the regulatory system adapts to keep pace with innovation. Robotics is a current priority for RIO which will be assessing where barriers can be removed to accelerate innovation and deployment.