Rishi Sunak
Main Page: Rishi Sunak (Conservative - Richmond and Northallerton)
Sajid Javid
The hon. Lady is right to raise her and her constituents’ concerns. I reassure her that we are looking at everything. I think she is aware of much of the action we have taken, but I am sure she understands that there is no magic wand here. No Government can make these problems go away overnight. These are international challenges—just in the last few days we have heard about problems in the US, Australia and many other developed economies. If she respects that, she will work with us on trying to find long-term solutions.
Rishi Sunak (Richmond (Yorks)) (Con)
I commend the Government on their plans to roll out guidance on procurement practice to the entire public sector. What is my right hon. Friend doing to ensure that UK steel companies are aware of all the bidding opportunities and how they can get in the best possible place to win the contracts?
Sajid Javid
We were the first EU country to change our procurement rules to take advantage of new flexibility to take into account economic and social factors. We have now extended that to the entire public sector—not just central Government. We are working on the visibility of the pipeline. We have £300 billion of infrastructure planned over the next five years—a huge amount of British business for British steel—and we are working with the industry and groups including UK Steel to ensure maximum visibility.