Background
Steel is an essential material for construction, defence, manufacturing, and transportation. The UK steel industry has long been under pressure, including from international competition, high energy prices, and tariffs. The government has taken action to support the UK steel industry in various ways.
British Steel’s Scunthorpe steelworks has the UK’s last remaining blast furnaces – specialist equipment capable of producing virgin steel. In March 2025, Jingye Group, the owner of British Steel Ltd, launched a consultation on closing the two blast furnaces. The government intervened in British Steel under the Steel Industry (Special Measures) Act 2025, which gained royal assent on 12 April 2025. The legislation gives the government the power to issue instructions to the company to maintain blast furnace activity and continue steel production at the site.
Scope
This investigation will examine the government’s 2025 intervention in British Steel’s Scunthorpe site, led by the Department for Business and Trade (DBT). We will focus on:
- the rationale for the intervention
- the intervention and current operations
- the costs, risks and wider implications of the intervention
NAO team
Director: Leena Mathew
Audit Manager: Sohila Sawhney