Government support for British Steel reached almost £100 million

The UK government has already allocated almost £100 million for British Steel. This was announced during a parliamentary debate by Jonathan Reynolds, Secretary of State for Business and Trade, The Telegraph reports.

“The amount of working capital provided to British Steel to date is £94 million, which is of course significantly less than if we had given a large amount of money to Jingye (the company’s Chinese owner), or if we had to deal with the complete loss of the entire British Steel plant and business,” Reynolds said.

He also confirmed that the £2.5 billion steel fund will support ongoing operations at the Scunthorpe plant.

During the debate, the official also responded to criticism that the nationalization of British Steel could cost billions of pounds. In particular, according to Reynolds, a complete collapse of the company would entail incredible costs for the treasury, more than £1 billion.

“So far, we have provided British Steel with working capital to pay wages, continue to purchase raw materials and operate the business,” explained the Secretary of State for Business and Trade.

According to The Telegraph, Reynolds’ remarks are the first time the cost of the government’s intervention has been made public.

In April 2025, the UK Parliament passed an emergency bill at an emergency meeting to give the government control over British Steel to prevent the closure of the country’s last blast furnaces. In March, China’s Jingye Group, which owns the company, rejected a £500 million government support package.