Asked by: Barry Sheerman (Labour (Co-op) - Huddersfield)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what fiscal steps he is taking to support the recovery of steel supply chains affected by the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
We have been working with companies across the steel sector and its supply chains to ensure that they can access the unprecedented package of support measures the Government have made available during this challenging time. This includes Government-backed finance through the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme and the Bounce Back Loan Scheme to help firms keep operating. We have also provided support through the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, which has been extended to March 2021 to protect people’s wages and manufacturing jobs across the UK.
In addition, the Government provided, as a lender of last resort, a £30m loan on commercial terms to Celsa, in line with EU State Aid rules.
We will continue to engage regularly with the steel industry and their suppliers.
Asked by: John Spellar (Labour - Warley)
Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will take steps to ensure that UK steel is at the heart of the Government’s post-covid-19 outbreak rebuild and recovery strategy.
Answered by Nadhim Zahawi
In his speech of 30 June, my Rt. Hon. Friend the Prime Minister made clear that as we recover from COVID-19, we must build back better, greener, and faster, ensuring that our economy is cleaner, more sustainable, and more resilient. This applies to all sectors of the economy, including those which are currently seen as difficult to decarbonise, such as steel.
The Government is supporting the steel sector throughout this difficult period, as well as providing the £250 million Clean Steel Fund, which will help UK steel producers to reduce emissions in line with our target to reach net zero emissions by 2050. This is complemented by the £315 million Industrial Energy Transformation fund to help energy intensive industries, such as steel, transition away from carbon-intensive energy sources.
The Department publishes a pipeline, identifying future steel requirements for all public infrastructure and construction projects annually. An update of this pipeline will be published shortly. We have also introduced steel-specific procurement guidance that requires Government Departments and public bodies to consider social and environmental factors when procuring steel.
Asked by: Stephen Doughty (Labour (Co-op) - Cardiff South and Penarth)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to provide support in the form of loans to the steel sector during the covid-19 outbreak.
Answered by Kemi Badenoch - President of the Board of Trade
Since the outbreak, the government has announced a comprehensive package of support for businesses and workers to protect them against the current economic emergency. The Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme will provide a government guarantee of 80% to enable banks to make loans up to £25m to viable firms with a turnover of between £45m and £250m per annum, and loans of up to £50m to viable firms with a turnover over £250m.
This support complements the unprecedented help available for businesses including the CCFF, tax deferrals, the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme, and covering the cost of statutory sick pay. These measures have also resulted in more than £6.8 billion of funding being allocated to the devolved administrations to deal with Covid 19.
Prior to Covid 19, the government had already begun to take wide-ranging action to support the UK steel industry, including compensation for energy costs, supporting innovation and clean steel production – through the £315m Industrial Energy Transformation Fund and £250m Clean Steel Fund, and working with the industry to introduce steel procurement guidance.