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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues to encourage the setting of targets for British made steel in the construction of HS2.

The UK is a champion of free and fair trade across the globe. British businesses exported £601 billion worth of goods and services to other countries in 2020, demonstrating the value of free and open markets.

It is important to note that the UK is party is to the World Trade Organisation’s plurilateral Agreement on Government Procurement (GPA), which involves most of the world’s major economies. The GPA commits its signatory parties to guaranteeing fair and transparent public procurements and to treat suppliers from fellow GPA countries in the same manner as domestic suppliers for all covered procurements. Thus, setting UK targets for major procurement projects or any measures which favour, or indirectly discriminate in favour of, UK products or suppliers would constitute a breach of the UK’s international obligations under the GPA.

Nonetheless, the Government is keen to ensure a strong UK steel industry. Against this backdrop, BEIS launched a Steel Procurement Taskforce in March 2021, which brings together Government Departments and the steel sector which is aimed at promoting the unique selling points of UK steel and helping industry position itself for success in forthcoming major public contracts. It will report its findings early this year.