Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, if his Department will consider the potential merits of including electricity-intensive food and drink manufacturers, such as distillers, in the scope of the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme.

The Government recently closed a consultation on eligibility for the British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS) where businesses were invited to share their views on the proposed methodology and an indicative list of eligible sectors. Decisions on eligibility will now be taken to ensure the scheme is properly geared towards boosting growth in the economy; through attracting investment in Industrial Strategy frontier manufacturing sectors and foundational manufacturing industries that supply key inputs to the Industrial Strategy frontier sectors.

The Industrial Strategy frontier and foundational sectors were selected following the Government’s consultation of the Modern Industrial Strategy in the autumn of 2024.