Margaret Ferrier – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Scotland Office
The below Parliamentary question was asked by Margaret Ferrier on 2015-12-03.
To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland, on what dates since 19 October 2015 Scotland Office Ministers and officials and their counterparts at UK Trade and Investment have met to discuss the Scottish steel industry; what issues affecting that industry were discussed on each occasion; and if he will make a statement.
David Mundell
The Government has created three working groups to respond to the issues affecting the steel industry; on competitiveness and productivity, procurement and international comparisons. Each group meets regularly and updates have been provided by the Scotland Office or Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) at each meeting of the Scottish Steel Task Force. Officials from the Scottish Government are invited to attend all working group meetings.
The working group on competitiveness and productivity includes representatives from UK Trade and Investment (UKTI) and has been considering, amongst other things, issues relating to exports and foreign and direct investment. It has met three times since 19 October (28 October, 11 November and 8 December). In addition, a workshop was held on 18 November.
As a consequence of these deliberations, work is being done by BIS and UKTI that will result in increased visibility of UK Export Finance (UKEF) with the UK steel sector. Improvements will also be made to the identification of forthcoming international projects requiring a high steel content with better mechanisms to share these opportunities with the UK steel sector. UKTI have also been working closely with Scottish Development International to support them in trying to identify potential international investors that may be interested in the Tata Steel plate mills at Dalzell and Clydebridge.
