British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme

Gareth Snell Excerpts

Thursday 16th April 2026 Commons Chamber

[Peter Kyle]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his support for the scheme. I know it is qualified support, but where that qualified support exists, I am grateful for it. Let us be very clear about the scheme, which I have been designing for quite some time: it is a competitiveness scheme, and it is targeted; it is not a general scheme for the entire economy. It is to increase the competitiveness of businesses, so that they can compete globally and be more profitable domestically. The scheme will be highly impactful for those businesses. Many of them are already profitable and doing great work. Through the scheme, we can turbocharge their ability to be competitive, both domestically and internationally. I have announced a range of other schemes, including the supercharger for energy-intensive sectors, and I have made other interventions, just in the six months that I have been Secretary of State.

The hon. Gentleman was gracious in praising parts of the scheme. He could have also mentioned that the growth figures that came out today show that we approached the challenges in the middle east by busting the forecasts and exceeding expectations for growth. That is good for every single business in the entire country. Growth is the No. 1 mission of the Government, and that is what we have been getting on with. That, of course, means that, going into this challenging period, we have more resilience and success in the British economy.

The hon. Gentleman asked about funding. As I said in my statement, the scheme is being funded through reliefs on three schemes, and through support from the Exchequer. It is fully funded and within the fiscal rules, and that is fully set out. More details will flow as we work with business to ensure that we get the implementation absolutely right.

The hon. Gentleman went on to call for a whole set of measures that he would like to see. I would like him to hold himself to the standard to which he holds me, and to set out how he will fund all the commitments he is making.

[Gareth Snell (Stoke-on-Trent Central) (Lab/Co-op)]

Let us start with the positives. I am glad that there is now some form of recognition that there is an industrial energy crisis, and that the Secretary of State has brought forward something that helps some sectors.

The bad news for the sector that I and many colleagues in the Chamber represent is that the ceramics sector is not included. There is nothing for tableware or giftware, nothing for ceramic tiles, clay pipes or clay tiles, and nothing for bricks. We have a Government with an objective of building 1.5 million homes, but there is no support for bricks in the scheme, which means that we will have to import bricks from Pakistan, on diesel-chugging super-tankers—bricks made by indentured labour in coal-fired kilns. We will not make them in Walsall, north Staffordshire or your constituency, Madam Deputy Speaker.

The same applies for sanitaryware. This sector has seen exports of half a billion pounds, employs 20,000 people directly across the supply chain, and puts £1 billion back into the UK economy. We have spoken to the Chancellor, to the Secretary of State’s predecessor, to the Energy Secretary, to Ministers across all Departments, and to the Treasury. They promised us help in the Budget, in the industrial strategy, in another Budget, and in the autumn statement. Then we were told, “Wait for BICS.” I suspect that the line from the Secretary of State will be, “The sector is gas-intensive, so wait for the supercharger scheme.” Frankly, that is not good enough. Factories will close and jobs will be lost as a result of this announcement. Bluntly and directly, may I ask the Secretary of State how many job losses and factory closures it will take, and how many brick kilns need to be mothballed, before the Government step in and do something for the ceramics sector? Is it now the Government’s policy objective to oversee the end of UK ceramics production?

[Peter Kyle]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his passionate intervention. I came into Parliament 10 years ago, and he came here just a short time afterwards. He has been raising these issues in Parliament for a very long time, about a sector that has long been under stress for various reasons, both global and domestic. I have been determined to ensure that my Department is connected, and as open as possible to listening, and to seeing how we can support the sector. There are monthly meetings with officials. There was a meeting just last week, attended by my hon. Friend, other MPs and industry figures from the sector. I have just discovered that no Secretary of State for Business has visited Stoke to meet ceramic industry figures for over five years. I am willing to do that, and in the coming days, my Department will reach out to the people running those companies to see if my going there, listening to the concerns and seeing what could be done would be of interest to them. If they would like that, I will be there.

I want to stress that my hon. Friend has listed a whole series of very different components of the ceramics industry. It is a diverse industry with diverse inputs. Some of them—I admit, a minority—could be eligible for the BIC scheme that I have announced today. That diversity means that there needs to be a very focused, comprehensive look at the sector. I am willing to go there and meet the industry figures myself.