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 support the sustainability of the steel sector in South Yorkshire.

The Government recognises the vital role that steel plays in our economy across all areas of the UK, and will continue to work with the sector to support its decarbonisation.

On 28 July, the Ministry of Defence (MOD) announced its intention to acquire Sheffield Forgemasters International Limited to secure its unique capability to supply large scale high integrity steel components into existing and future defence programmes. This acquisition was completed on 19 August. The MOD also intends to spend up to £400 million for defence critical plant, equipment and infrastructure in SFIL over the next 10 years to support defence outputs.