New Manifesto launched to secure future of UK steelwork

At a Parliamentary reception, with speakers including Blair McDougall MP, Minister for Reindustrialisation, the British Constructional Steelwork Association (BCSA) launched a refreshed manifesto setting out its priorities for strengthening Britain’s constructional steelwork industry.

The BCSA’s manifesto, UK’s Future in Steel Construction, sets out a series of recommendations aimed at improving the competitiveness of British steelwork businesses, supporting investment and safeguarding skilled manufacturing jobs.

These include extending the UK’s steel import tariffs and quotas to fabricated steel products, making UK-produced and UK-fabricated steel the default choice for Government projects, and strengthening technical education and skills.

The association has spent the past six months (since the publication of the Government’s Steel Strategy) engaging extensively with ministers, opposition politicians and MPs from across the political spectrum to highlight the tariffs issue.

While this engagement has helped secure important concessions and greater recognition of the industry’s contribution, the BCSA believes further action is necessary to ensure the benefits of the Steel Strategy extend across the entire domestic steel supply chain.

Of particular concern is the continued exclusion of fabricated structural steelwork from the UK’s tariff and quota framework, which the association warns leaves British fabricators exposed to competition from overseas manufacturers that are not subject to equivalent trade measures. It argues there needs to be a change in Government procurement that puts UK supply

first, unlike many publicly funded projects for which there is no option but to import steel products.

Jonathan Clemens, BCSA Chief Executive Officer, said: “The publication of the Steel Strategy was an important moment for British industry, and we’ve welcomed the Government’s renewed commitment to protecting our steel sector and strengthening our sovereign manufacturing capability.

“Our refreshed manifesto sets out a practical programme for supporting the industry, including addressing the continued exclusion of fabricated steelwork from the UK’s tariff and quota arrangements. Protecting steel production while leaving fabrication exposed to unfair competition risks losing much of the economic benefit further along the supply chain.”

Jonathan Brash MP for Hartlepool, who hosted the reception, said: “Steel is part of Hartlepool’s DNA. I know just how important this industry is to skilled jobs, local communities and the wider British economy.

“The Government’s Steel Strategy is an important step forward, but we must recognise that a strong British steel industry means supporting the entire supply chain. There is little point protecting British steel production if the businesses that turn that steel into the buildings and infrastructure, we depend upon are left exposed to unfair competition.”

“I was delighted to host the BCSA in Parliament and welcome Minister McDougall to hear directly from the industry. Their manifesto makes a compelling case for ensuring British steel and British steelwork are at the heart of our national infrastructure ambitions. We have the skills, the expertise and the businesses to deliver, and we should be doing everything we can to back them.”