Taxpayers have now provided around £751 million to keep British Steel running, but ministers will not say how much they have set aside for the nationalised company this year or next.
A Lords minister says the company’s budgets are subject to ‘the usual government approvals processes’. A turnaround plan will be published once it is agreed, with no date given.
The figure came in a written answer published on Friday to the Conservative peer Lord Redwood, who asked what the budget provision for British Steel is for 2026-27 and 2027-28. The business minister Lord Leong did not give one. He said budgets for the company ‘are subject to the usual government approvals processes and ministerial decisions’ and that ‘the need for HMG support is kept under constant review’.
He said the money provided so far, approximately £751 million in working capital for items such as raw materials and salaries, had come from existing budgets ‘with no additional borrowing required’. It will appear in the business department’s accounts for 2026-27.
The Government took control of the Scunthorpe steelworks in April 2025, when Parliament was recalled on a Saturday to pass emergency legislation. British Steel was nationalised on 16 July this year after ministers concluded no deal could be reached with its Chinese owner, Jingye.
In September the Commons Public Accounts Committee said the department ‘could not provide even indicative estimates’ of what taxpayers may ultimately be asked to fund. It found the money is classed as a loan, but that there is no formal loan agreement and ‘it is not apparent that British Steel will be able to repay it’.
The committee said funding was running at around £1.3 million a day. It noted the National Audit Office’s finding that, if spending continued at that rate, it could exceed £1.5 billion in 2028, before any transformation, compensation or exit costs. Officials told MPs they were prepared to spend a similar amount in 2026-27 as in 2025-26.
Ministers have not said when the plan to make the company pay its way will appear. Asked by Lord Sharpe of Epsom when a business plan would be published, and whether it would include a timetable for ending taxpayer support, Lord Leong said a new board chaired by Alan Lovell was developing one. It is ‘expected to be published once it is agreed’, and ministers will decide with the company ‘what information should be published at the appropriate time’.
Nor is private money lined up. Asked how many potential investors or buyers had been formally approached, Lord Leong said the Government had ‘now started to test private sector sentiment’ and would keep the House updated ‘as a timetable emerges’.
There is also a compensation claim. Jingye began proceedings under the 1986 UK-China investment treaty in June. Asked about the potential cost to taxpayers of legal proceedings and any compensation, Lord Leong said the Government had acted lawfully and, having been notified of a dispute, ‘it would be inappropriate to comment further’. He added that the UK ‘has never faced a successful ISDS claim’.
In the Lords last Monday, Lord Hunt of Wirral asked when ministers would produce ‘a serious, costed plan’ for the company. Lord Leong replied that ‘taxpayer support cannot substitute for commercial viability indefinitely’.
There is a real case for Britain keeping the ability to make its own steel, for defence, infrastructure and national resilience. British Steel employs more than 4,000 people, and unions and local leaders told the committee the site has a future.
But the committee asked the department to publish the plan with expected costs, funding sources and a timetable. Four months after nationalisation, taxpayers have been told how much has gone in, but not how much more is coming or when it will stop.
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