Meeting at Liberty Steel Stocksbridge
Following Liberty Steel’s announcement of up to 250 job losses in their Stocksbridge plant, I was pleased to be able to meet with directors, staff and union representatives to discuss the ongoing situation.
I was advised that Liberty aim to achieve the restructuring through voluntary redundancies but where this is not possible, steelworkers will be offered roles within their new GFG Workforce.
We also discussed the challenges facing the UK steel industry, particularly the high cost of energy, alongside the high levels of cheap imported steel being seen in the UK market. I learnt about the value of the training and apprenticeships at Liberty and we discussed the centrality of the steel industry to our local economy, not just Liberty itself, but also suppliers, local retailers and other related services.
On a more positive note, whilst current market conditions are challenging, Liberty and the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, (BEIS), have made clear that they believe there is an important future for UK steel – and planned investment in big UK infrastructure projects will help support this.
All of this is why I will continue to lobby the Government to do what it can to secure the future of the UK steel industry and to consider ways it can do more to ensure UK steel is used for domestic infrastructure projects. I will be having further meetings with BEIS representatives over the coming weeks and will continue to press them to deliver on these initiatives. I will also remain in close contact with Liberty and the unions and will, of course, offer whatever support I can.
