As part of the UK government’s regular and ongoing engagement with the steel industry, Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng today re-established and co-chaired the latest UK Steel Council meeting, with representatives from the 6 major steel companies in the UK, as well as UK Steel, the sector’s trade association, trade unions and the Devolved Administrations in attendance.

The Business Secretary opened the call reiterating the UK government’s commitment to levelling up the country and protecting jobs as we build back better from the pandemic. He noted the newly constituted Steel Council offers the forum for government, industry and trade unions to work in partnership on the shared objective of creating an achievable, long-term plan to support the sector’s transition to a competitive, sustainable and low carbon future.

There was acknowledgement of the extraordinary pressures that steel businesses are facing as a result of the global coronavirus pandemic and reaffirmed the government’s commitment to support the sector and to help the industry to decarbonise. Kwasi Kwarteng noted, for example, the government has provided more than £500 million in relief to help make electricity costs more competitive and has established a £250 million Clean Steel Fund to support the decarbonisation of the steel sector.

The UK government remains committed to working with the steel industry in partnership to achieving Net Zero carbon emissions, but Mr Kwarteng recognised that it is a huge challenge.

The Business Secretary set out that the forthcoming Industrial Decarbonisation Strategy will not only demonstrate how the manufacturing sector can cut emissions, but also how it can become a thriving industry over the coming decades as it transitions to a low carbon future.

A joint UK Steel and BEIS Procurement Taskforce will also meet for the first time shortly and will be chaired by Lord Grimstone. It will aim to explore any difficulties reported by the sector in competing for and securing major public contractors and what the government can do to address them.

The Steel Council intends to meet regularly over the coming year and today’s attendees included:

• Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng
• Lord Grimstone, Minister for Investment
• Anne-Marie Trevelyan, Energy Minister
• Simon Hart, Secretary of State for Wales
• Luis Sanz, Chair of UK Steel and CEO, Celsa
• Gareth Stace, Director General, UK Steel
• Tor Farquhar, HR Director, Tata Steel Europe
• Antonius Deelan, CEO, British Steel
• Jon Ferriman, CEO, Liberty Steel,
• David Bond, Managing Director, Sheffield Forgemasters
• David Scaife, Director, Outokumpu
• Roy Rickhuss, Community Union
• Harish Patel, Unite Union
• Ross Murdoch, GMB Union
• Ken Skates, Minister for Economy, Transport and North Wales, Welsh Government
• Jamie Hepburn, Minister for Business, Fair Work and Skills, Scottish Government
• Chris McDonald, CEO, Materials Processing Institute

Frances Akor is a Consultant Pharmacist at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and a member of the General Pharmaceutical Council’s Fitness to Practise Committee, who has worked in academia, consultancy, pharmaceutical industry and the NHS. Frances has an interest in the role of pharmacy and medicines in Sport. She was a member of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Pharmacy Clinical Services Group between 2009 and 2012. In addition, she was the Venue Medical Manager for Eton Dorney and Royal Holloway Rowing Village during the 2012 Games. Frances has a PhD in Pharmacy Practice and Policy which focused on the practical implementation of NHS policy using anticoagulation as the therapy area of focus, and has served on the board of UK Anti-Doping since 2017.

Nicola is an Internationally Registered Sports Physiotherapy specialist and a Professor at Cardiff University. She has worked extensively with both the Welsh and British teams at Olympic Games and Commonwealth Games. Her academic role includes leading an MSc in Sport and Exercise Physiotherapy as well as research into rehabilitation following sports injury. Nicola was previously President of the International Federation of Sports Physical Therapy. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy, an Honorary Life Member of the Association of Chartered Physiotherapists in Sport and Exercise Medicine and a UK Anti-Doping Board member. Her research, publication and lecturing areas include the effects of injury on motor control and measurement of functional recovery following sports injury in general and specifically knee injuries, which includes athletes of all ages and abilities. She has also published and lectured on ethical and integrity considerations in sports physiotherapy practice.

These roles are remunerated at £215 per day. These reappointments have been made in accordance with the Cabinet Office’s Governance Code on Public Appointments, the process is regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. The Government’s Governance Code requires that any significant political activity undertaken by an appointee in the last five years is declared. This is defined as holding office, public speaking, making a recordable donation or candidature for election. Frances Akor and Nicola Phillips have not declared any activity.