Speaking in the House of Commons, James Wild MP pressed the Business and Trade Secretary for full transparency on the taxpayer costs associated with the government’s intervention in British Steel and was told £94 million in working capital has been provided so far to secure the Scunthorpe plant.
In April, following the collapse of negotiations with the Chinese-owned Jingye Group, the government passed emergency legislation to prevent the closure of British Steel’s blast furnaces. This intervention, which included taking control of the plant and securing raw materials, aimed to safeguard jobs, preserve manufacturing capacity, and support infrastructure projects reliant on British steel.
Ministers argue that this amount is less than the potential cost of either a full site closure or a larger payment to Jingye. However, the full fiscal impact remains unclear, with further estimates expected later this month.
James Wild MP said:
“Will the Secretary of State be straightforward with the House today? How much taxpayers’ money has been spent so far on British Steel?”
In response, Secretary of State for Business and Trade Jonathan Reynolds MP said:
“The amount of working capital provided to British Steel to date stands at £94 million — considerably less than if we had given a large amount of money to Jingye or if we’d had to deal with the complete loss of the entire British Steel site and business.”
