The UK Government has published the impact assessment for its Steel Industry (Special Measures) Bill 2025, outlining the rationale, expected effects and fiscal implications of emergency powers intended to preserve strategic steelmaking capacity in the UK.
Purpose of the bill
The Steel Industry (Special Measures) Bill 2025 grants the Secretary of State for Business and Trade targeted emergency powers to direct the continued use of strategic steelmaking assets, such as blast furnaces, where there is a risk of closure and where their ongoing operation is deemed to be in the public interest. These powers can include stepping in to act on behalf of the steel undertaking, entering into agreements or appointing officers to preserve safe steelmaking capacity. The regime is intended to be used as a last resort in exceptional circumstances and is not time-limited.
Without these powers, the Impact Assessment notes that traditional market forces could lead to irrevocable closure of key steel assets, undermining industrial resilience and strategic supply chains. The closure of facilities such as blast furnaces would diminish the UK’s ability to produce critical steel grades domestically.
Fiscal costs and funding considerations
The Impact Assessment highlights near-term public finance implications, including the potential for costs of up to £195 million per year associated with maintaining operations under special measures. These costs could arise where the government supports continued asset use, including covering operating deficits in some cases under the bill’s powers.
While significant, these fiscal impacts are weighed against the potential benefits of preserving national industrial capability, protecting jobs and maintaining critical supply chains for the infrastructure, manufacturing and defense sectors.
In addition, by formalizing powers to keep key steel assets operational, the bill aims to ensure that future decisions about long-term steel strategy, including modernization or decarbonization, can be made with due consideration.
