Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to ensure that Tata Steel UK upholds the commitments contained in its memorandum of understanding with steel unions following changes to the British Steel pension scheme.

The Government has been working hard with the unions to secure a sustainable future for Tata Steel UK 8,200 employees, including those at its Port Talbot primary steelmaking plant.

Details of the joint venture process are still to be worked out. However Tata has said it will honour the commitments it made earlier this year. Indeed, following the Joint Venture agreement between Tata Steel Europe and Thyssenkrupp, announced on 19th September 2017, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy wrote a joint letter with the trade unions to Natarajan Chandrasekaran, Chair of Tata & Sons, to secure Tata’s assurance that together with their new partner they will continue to honour these commitments.

We will continue to work closely with Tata Steel, Thyssenkrupp, the Welsh Government and Trade Unions to support the future of Tata Steel’s UK steel business.