Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what his policy is on reviewing Non Disclosure Agreements with external business groups.

Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Confidentiality Agreements (CAs) enable engagement with businesses on sensitive areas of live trade negotiations and broader policy development. The department does not require CAs for all external engagements; sensitivities and risks are assessed on a case-by-case basis. The department holds CAs with a range of businesses, civil society organisations and academia, supporting engagement across all sectors. These CAs last up to seven years and at the date of termination, stakeholders can decide whether to re-sign. The department's view is that CAs serve a clear purpose in supporting stakeholder engagement and protecting UK interests.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, which organisations his Department has Non Disclosure Agreements with.

Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Confidentiality Agreements (CAs) enable engagement with businesses on sensitive areas of live trade negotiations and broader policy development. The department does not require CAs for all external engagements; sensitivities and risks are assessed on a case-by-case basis. The department holds CAs with a range of businesses, civil society organisations and academia, supporting engagement across all sectors. These CAs last up to seven years and at the date of termination, stakeholders can decide whether to re-sign. The department's view is that CAs serve a clear purpose in supporting stakeholder engagement and protecting UK interests.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many Non Disclosure Agreements his Department has in place with external business groups.

Answered by Kate Dearden - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Business and Trade)

Confidentiality Agreements (CAs) enable engagement with businesses on sensitive areas of live trade negotiations and broader policy development. The department does not require CAs for all external engagements; sensitivities and risks are assessed on a case-by-case basis. The department holds CAs with a range of businesses, civil society organisations and academia, supporting engagement across all sectors. These CAs last up to seven years and at the date of termination, stakeholders can decide whether to re-sign. The department's view is that CAs serve a clear purpose in supporting stakeholder engagement and protecting UK interests.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent progress his Department has made in its negotiations with Jingye over British Steel.

Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

There are approximately 3,000 workers at British Steel’s Scunthorpe site. British Steel remains owned by Jingye and HM Government’s powers to intervene under the Steel Industry (Special Measures) Act 2025 are designed to maintain steelmaking and avoid a disorderly closure of the blast furnaces.

We are in discussions with the owner, which remain confidential, to find a pragmatic and realistic solution.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many jobs at Scunthorpe are supported by the blast furnace.

Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

There are approximately 3,000 workers at British Steel’s Scunthorpe site. British Steel remains owned by Jingye and HM Government’s powers to intervene under the Steel Industry (Special Measures) Act 2025 are designed to maintain steelmaking and avoid a disorderly closure of the blast furnaces.

We are in discussions with the owner, which remain confidential, to find a pragmatic and realistic solution.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how long he plans to keep a blast furnace at Scunthorpe.

Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

There are approximately 3,000 workers at British Steel’s Scunthorpe site. British Steel remains owned by Jingye and HM Government’s powers to intervene under the Steel Industry (Special Measures) Act 2025 are designed to maintain steelmaking and avoid a disorderly closure of the blast furnaces.

We are in discussions with the owner, which remain confidential, to find a pragmatic and realistic solution.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate he has made of the value of British Steel.

Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

There are approximately 3,000 workers at British Steel’s Scunthorpe site. British Steel remains owned by Jingye and HM Government’s powers to intervene under the Steel Industry (Special Measures) Act 2025 are designed to maintain steelmaking and avoid a disorderly closure of the blast furnaces.

We are in discussions with the owner, which remain confidential, to find a pragmatic and realistic solution.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of steel tariffs on the number of jobs in UK manufacturing sectors.

Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

Steel is essential for a modern economy such as the UK, underpinning key industries from construction to advanced manufacturing and defence. The trade measure introduced on 19 March aims to address critical global steel overcapacity challenges that threaten the viability of UK steelmaking, which supports approximately 40,000 direct jobs and 61,000 upstream supply chain jobs. From 1 July 2026, reduced import quotas with 50% tariffs on imports once quotas are exceeded will protect domestic production capacity, helping secure these high-quality UK steelmaking jobs that pay on average 32% above local wages.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what estimate he has made of tariff revenue from steel imports.

Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

From 1 July 2026, steel import quotas will be reduced by 60% compared with the steel safeguard, with a 50% tariff on imports exceeding these levels.

The purpose of the trade measure is not to raise tariff revenue, and therefore we have not made any estimates. Instead, it aims to protect UK steel-making, which is essential for our critical national infrastructure and defence. The Steel Strategy aims to restore us to a balanced approach between UK demand being met through imports and through domestic production.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether other departmental budget lines are being reduced to fund the UK Steel Strategy.

Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

We continue to engage with industry and other stakeholders as we move into the delivery phase of the steel strategy, following its publication on the 19 March. This includes work to implement the new trade defence measure ahead of the 1 July. The publication of any further information will be considered as this progresses.

The steel strategy reaffirms the government’s commitment to spend up to £2.5 billion on the steel sector. Building on the direct support provided so far, the National Wealth Fund will be the main mechanism for providing finance for investment in the steel sector. It is actively seeking engagement with steel firms for strong, investible projects.

Allocations are subject to the usual government approvals processes and ministerial decisions. All support for the steel sector has been drawn from existing government budgets, with no additional borrowing or trade-offs required.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he has made provisional allocations for the £2.5 billion assigned to the UK Steel Strategy.

Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

We continue to engage with industry and other stakeholders as we move into the delivery phase of the steel strategy, following its publication on the 19 March. This includes work to implement the new trade defence measure ahead of the 1 July. The publication of any further information will be considered as this progresses.

The steel strategy reaffirms the government’s commitment to spend up to £2.5 billion on the steel sector. Building on the direct support provided so far, the National Wealth Fund will be the main mechanism for providing finance for investment in the steel sector. It is actively seeking engagement with steel firms for strong, investible projects.

Allocations are subject to the usual government approvals processes and ministerial decisions. All support for the steel sector has been drawn from existing government budgets, with no additional borrowing or trade-offs required.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of steel tariffs on inflation.

Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

The UK’s steel industry is fundamental to UK manufacturing, the UK’s critical national infrastructure and defence. Steel overcapacity is distorting markets, artificially driving down prices and threatening the viability of our already fragile domestic steelmaking sector – which has more than halved in the last decade.

Our aim is to strike the right balance: while the measure aims to ensure continued viability of UK steel production, we have considered the impact of supply for downstream sectors in the design of this measure.

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether he plans to publish an Impact Assessment for the UK Steel Strategy.

Answered by Chris McDonald - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)

We continue to engage with industry and other stakeholders as we move into the delivery phase of the steel strategy, following its publication on the 19 March. This includes work to implement the new trade defence measure ahead of the 1 July. The publication of any further information will be considered as this progresses.

The steel strategy reaffirms the government’s commitment to spend up to £2.5 billion on the steel sector. Building on the direct support provided so far, the National Wealth Fund will be the main mechanism for providing finance for investment in the steel sector. It is actively seeking engagement with steel firms for strong, investible projects.

Allocations are subject to the usual government approvals processes and ministerial decisions. All support for the steel sector has been drawn from existing government budgets, with no additional borrowing or trade-offs required.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how long she plans to exempt steel production from the UK Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism.

Answered by Dan Tomlinson - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)

The government is introducing a Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) from 1 January 2027. It will apply to imported goods from the aluminium, cement, fertiliser, hydrogen, and iron and steel sectors

CBAM will apply to specific imported goods from the steel sector, as listed in Schedule 16 of the Finance Act 2026. There are no plans for exemptions from this list.

The UK CBAM is designed to address the risk of carbon leakage and to ensure that CBAM goods which are imported from overseas face a comparable carbon price to what is paid by manufacturers producing the same goods in the UK, under the UK Emissions Trading Scheme. As CBAM will only apply to imported products, it will not apply to domestic steel production.

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Dame Meg Hillier (Chair); Dame Harriett Baldwin; Chris Coghlan; Jim

Found: (Labour, Hackney South and Shoreditch) (Chair) (added 9 Sep 2024) 81 of 83 (97.6%) Dame Harriett Baldwin

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Dame Meg Hillier (Chair); Dame Harriett Baldwin; Chris Coghlan; Bobby

Found: Watch the meeting Members present: Dame Meg Hillier (Chair); Dame Harriett Baldwin; Chris Coghlan; Bobby