𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Britain is pouring £1.3million of taxpayers’ cash a day into efforts to rescue British Steel but Andy Burnham’s Government lacks a credible plan for its future, according to Westminster’s spending watchdog. More than £500million has been spent but ministers are unable to say how the crisis-hit enterprise can be put on a “sustainable footing”, according to the cross-party public accounts committee (PAC).

The MPs are demanding the Government publish a plan for the whole of British Steel. By June, the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (BIST) had provided £555million in funding and cash continues to flow into the steelmaker – the MPs warn – “without a clear end in sight”. The Government could not come up with an estimate of the ultimate cost to the taxpayer.

The PAC warned that taxpayers “remain exposed to significant and growing costs and uncertainty” and it is “not clear whether the money will ever be recovered”. It is also concerned about the further uncertainty surrounding the long-term employment of British’s Steel’s 4,052 employees.

Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice said: “This Government’s obsession with net zero and the delay in producing a bold long-term vision and business plan for British Steel is very damaging. They need to get on with it, as I have been urging for months.”

Clive Betts MP, PAC’s deputy chairman, said: “Having brought British Steel onto the taxpayers’ books, it is now up to Government to explain its plan for its future. Unfortunately, beyond simply propping up the company with public money, the Government was not able to outline such a plan to our inquiry. The reality is that British Steel is unable to wash its own face, and Government is now in charge of making sure it gets onto a sustainable financial footing for the future.”

Parliament was recalled from the Easter recess in April last year to prevent the closure of the blast furnaces at British Steel’s Scunthorpe site and preserve the country’s primary steelmaking capacity. The MPs say this “bought time rather than providing a solution” and “did not resolve the underlying problem that British Steel remains structurally unprofitable”.

Emma Revell of the Centre for Policy Studies said: “The Government never had a plan for what they would do with British Steel… Committing hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers money with no plan for what comes next is deeply irresponsible.”

Val Boboc of the Institute of Economic Affairs warned: “The Government is spending £1.3million a day to keep British Steel afloat while its own policies obstruct the investment that would generate demand for steel. We cannot continue to subsidise steel production whilst simultaneously regulating away demand for steel.”

She warned that planning restrictions “blocked, delayed and inefficient projects result in fewer orders for the steel industry ministers claim to champion”.

A Government spokesperson said: “Securing the long-term future of the UK steel sector is in our national interest. While this will require both public and private investment, we’ve taken the first step towards securing steelmaking by securing British Steel’s future through public ownership and appointing a new board and chair this month. Taxpayer value for money remains a central consideration in our assessment of the future of the site, and we are also backing the communities that rely on it through our Steel Strategy to build a sustainable, competitive and decarbonised steel sector for the years ahead.”