UK Steel - Public Procurement: Growing British industry, jobs and skills

UK Steel welcomes the Government’s ambition to use public procurement as a strategic lever to support British industry, jobs and skills, and stresses that procurement reform must sit at the heart of the forthcoming Steel Strategy. With millions of tonnes of steel required for public infrastructure and major opportunities in sectors such as offshore wind, prioritising UK-made steel is essential to maximise the return on public investment, strengthen national resilience and safeguard domestic capability. 

UK Steel supports stronger social value weighting, transparency and geographic targeting to ensure procurement delivers jobs, skills and regional growth, but cautions against rigid or size-based rules that risk disadvantaging strategic industries. In our response, we urge Government to align procurement more closely with industrial and national security objectives, using existing legal flexibilities to support sovereign supply chains, reverse the decline in domestic steel use, and ensure procurement drives long-term sustainability and competitiveness of the UK steel sector.