{"id":774267,"date":"2026-09-18T03:02:12","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T03:02:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/774267\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T03:02:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T03:02:12","slug":"find-a-credible-plan-for-british-steel-ministers-told-as-startling-costs-soar-british-steel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/774267\/","title":{"rendered":"Find a credible plan for British Steel, ministers told as \u2018startling\u2019 costs soar | British Steel"},"content":{"rendered":"

Labour has been urged to lay out a credible plan for the future of British Steel<\/a>, as the government spending watchdog warned of the \u201cstartling\u201d costs of keeping the struggling manufacturer in business with no end in sight.<\/p>\n

British Steel was taken into public ownership in July to protect \u201cthe future of steel production\u201d, 15 months after the government stepped in to prevent the closure of its steelworks in Scunthorpe and the loss of 4,000 jobs.<\/p>\n

But it is costing \u00a31.3m a day to keep the company running, with the total estimated cost reaching as much as \u00a31.5bn by 2028. By mid-June, the government had spent \u00a3555m paying workers\u2019 salaries and buying raw materials, excluding the cost of external advisers.<\/p>\n

The public accounts committee of MPs said on Friday that ministers were still \u201cunable to articulate what business model\u201d would put the company on a sustainable footing, nearly a year and a half after taking control at Scunthorpe.<\/a><\/p>\n

It added that the Department for Business and Trade had not given \u201ceven indicative estimates\u201d of how much British Steel would ultimately cost taxpayers or how long the situation would continue.<\/p>\n

After nationalising British Steel,<\/a> the government appointed new bosses to focus on stabilising the business.<\/p>\n

Clive Betts, the committee\u2019s deputy chair, said the move to save the company was \u201call well and good\u201d, but added: \u201cThis was just the beginning. Having brought British Steel onto the taxpayers\u2019 books, it is now up to government to explain its plan for its future.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnfortunately, 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 on to a sustainable financial footing for the future.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe also require assurances that the startling levels of funding British Steel is currently receiving do not come at the expense of the wider sector.\u201d<\/p>\n

The criticism came days after Labour also nationalised Britain\u2019s third-biggest producer of the metal,<\/a> the Yorkshire-based Speciality Steel UK, in an attempt to protect 1,300 jobs.<\/p>\n

Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, said at the time that the government did not \u201cintervene in private companies lightly\u201d but that the move was important to safeguard heavy industry.<\/p>\n

The public accounts committee said it showed the government could not \u201cspend all its money supporting British Steel, when clearly there will be a need to support other parts of the industry\u201d.<\/p>\n

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It added: \u201c[Taxpayers] remain exposed to significant and growing costs and uncertainty \u2013 it is not clear whether the money will ever be recovered.\u201d<\/p>\n

The government should publish a plan for the company that included \u201coptions and analysis for the intended future production model and the role of British Steel in the UK economy; the preferred decarbonisation pathway; how the company will become financially sustainable; and the expected costs, funding sources and timetable\u201d, the committee\u2019s report said.<\/p>\n

The former owner Jingye has separately argued that British Steel owed it almost \u00a31bn when it was nationalised and has started a formal process under an international treaty to win compensation from the government.<\/p>\n

The move has also put pressure on UK-Chinese relations, with China\u2019s government saying it is \u201cstrongly dissatisfied\u201d<\/a> with the situation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Labour has been urged to lay out a credible plan for the future of British Steel, as the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":774268,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[84,59,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-774267","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-gb","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774267","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=774267"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/774267\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/774268"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=774267"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=774267"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=774267"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}