Industrial strategy

The key policy and strategy recommendations in the report are:
Radically reshaping the energy market and cutting green levies so steelmakers do not face sharply higher costs than foreign competitors

• Fast, effective and punitive trade defences to prevent steel dumping, rather than the current slow and ineffective measures overseen by the EU
• A “buy British” policy on steel for public projects
• An end to business rates that discourage investment in new equipment
• A strategic view of supply chains from government with incentives for key businesses to encourage them to buy British
• Backing for R&D in the sector, to retain the UK’s world-class position in new forms of steel, with state-backed training for staff in cyclical slumps in the sector to avoid job losses
• A partnership between industry and unions, with state help to mothball plants during slumps so vital skills are not lost.
• Adopting these measures would create a stable environment for the steel industry, said Mr Kinnock said, adding it is “an essential part of the country’s national security”.

“It’s a foundation industry on which everything else stands,” he added. “What is needed is a partnership between staff, businesses and government with support in the inevitable downturns as we can’t lurch from crisis to crisis with the steel industry getting weaker each time.”

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The government's industrial strategy