Peter Gibson MP spoke in an Urgent Questions debate in the House of Commons on steel production in Britain (8/11/23).
Peter welcomed the new steel making coming to Teesside but recognised that the news was ‘bittersweet’.
Peter went on to urge the Government to support those in Scunthorpe who have seen the closure of their steel making facilities putting up to 2000 jobs at risk. He praised the work of Holly Mumby-Croft, MP for Scunthorpe, in standing up for her constituents being affected by the closure of the blast furnaces in Scunthorpe’s steelworks.
Peter closed by asking the Nusrat Ghani MP, Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade) what use of carbon capture and storage is being explored to produce our own virgin steel.
Responding the Minister said “We've had a number of programmes in place to support the steel sector, because it had a number of challenges as have many continental European countries.
“Fundamentally Putin’s invasion of Ukraine skyrocketed energy costs. We have in place energy costs relief scheme for the steel sector being worth up to £730 million pounds since 2013 and we also have the supercharger in place now.
“I've spoken about the steel procurement policy note which ensures that there is more UK steel procured in UK markets and provided support for TATA recently.
“We are doing everything we can to get the best deal possible for Scunthorpe”
