Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department plans to take to engage with (a) industry bodies and (b) trades unions on the sourcing of steel for equipment procured by his Department from UK suppliers.

The Government is committed to implementing measures to address any barriers that prevent UK steel suppliers from competing effectively for public sector contracts. To that end, new guidelines for departments on sourcing and buying steel for major projects were published in October 2015. The Ministry of Defence (MOD) has written to its largest defence contractors to highlight these guidelines, which emphasise the importance of pre-market engagement, including through industry days and signalling future pipelines for steel.

The MOD would not routinely meet with trades unions on this type of issue and has not received any representations. It has met with the UK steel industry through its membership of the Cabinet Office Steel Procurement Working Group. This group is looking to ensure that UK steel suppliers can compete on a level playing field with international suppliers on major projects.