Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department received (a) applications and (b) expressions of interest prior to the decision to not proceed with proposals to give businesses a cash grant for innovative steel projects.

We are committed to providing up to £2.5bn for the steel sector, which is being delivered in part through the National Wealth Fund (NWF). A consultation was launched in February 2025 regarding the upcoming steel strategy, and we sought views on further potential mechanisms to support the steel industry, including the possibility of grant funding. However, we were not seeking applications or expressions of interest at that stage.