The UK’s Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Bill has passed the third reading in the House of Lords and will now go to the House of Commons for its consideration before obtaining Royal Assent and being enacted into law, Kallanish notes.
The amendments to the bill include a “more credible” sunset mechanism, according to Lord Hunt of Wirral. Any extension of the principal transfer powers will be limited to two years and will require the affirmative approval of both Houses. The Secretary of State will be required to consider the likely costs before exercising the share transfer power or the property transfer power. The relevant environmental, pension, and health and safety liabilities will also have to be properly reflected in the independent valuation process.
“This House has sent a clear message,” Lord Leong said during Monday’s bill debate in the House of Lords. “The United Kingdom must be able to act when a strategic industry is at risk. We must protect steel-making capability, support workers and communities, and safeguard the critical supply chains on which our national resilience depends.”
Lord Hunt of Wirral added: “Nationalisation may provide the Government with an emergency power, but it is not an industrial strategy. It cannot substitute for commercially viable businesses; for competent, market-aware management; and, above all, for sustained private sector investment.”
“The long-term future of British steel depends on the United Kingdom once again becoming an attractive and affordable place in which to invest, to produce and to employ people,” he continued.
“Ministers have to address our internationally uncompetitive industrial electricity prices. They must examine the cumulative burden of the emissions trading scheme and the carbon border adjustment mechanism. They must consider the costs imposed by their employment policies as well as the ever-expanding burden of regulation, reporting and compliance,” he concluded.
Earlier this week, Chinese steelmaker Jingye Group renewed its demand for compensation from the UK government over its intervention in British Steel last year.
