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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when he plans to implement the Clean Steel Fund.

In August 2019, the Government announced a £250 million Clean Steel Fund to support the UK steel sector to transition to lower carbon iron and steel production, through investment in new technologies and processes. The Fund will help the sector towards achieving our target of net zero emissions by 2050, by maximising longevity and resilience while harnessing clean growth opportunities.

Steel industry stakeholders provided positive responses to our Call for Evidence, including responses on possible timelines for the Fund. Feedback generally indicated that companies could be ready with projects for funding by 2023 or 2024. A summary of the responses was published in December 2020. Officials will work with industry to decide the most appropriate timeline for the scheme.