Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to Written Ministerial Statement of 11 November on British Steel, HCWS1030, when he plans to submit the impact assessment to the Regulatory Policy Committee for scrutiny.

To date, the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has provided British Steel with £274m for working capital, covering approximately 33% of raw material purchases, payroll costs and other operating expenditure. British Steel revenues have funded the remaining 67% of costs. It is anticipated that the Government will need to make a similar contribution for the remainder of fiscal year. However actual sums are susceptible to wider macroeconomic factors and the ratio of British Steel revenue to DBT funding is therefore subject to change.

Officials in my department, led by my Chief Strategic Business Advisor, have been in close contact with Jingye and were last in correspondence with them on 21 October. All parties continue to work at pace to find a pragmatic, realistic solution for the future of British Steel.

An impact assessment relating to the Steel Industry (Special Measures) Act 2025 was submitted on 3 November. It will be published in due course following Regulatory Policy Committee scrutiny.