British Steel will not continue with a consultation on making up to 2,700 steelworkers at its Scunthorpe plant redundant, after the government took control of the firm earlier this month.
The Chinese company Jingye, which promised a “new chapter” when it bought British Steel in 2020, last month proposed closing Scunthorpe’s two blast furnaces, putting the roles under threat and ending Britain’s ability to produce steel from scratch.
The UK government responded by recalling parliament to approve legislation granting ministers emergency powers to take control ofthe company and continue production at the site.
British Steel confirmed on Tuesday that it had officially withdrawn redundancy consultation forms, formally bringing the process to an end.
The decision comes after a frantic scramble at the highest level of government to secure a shipment of raw materials to feed the plant’s two furnaces, nicknamed Queen Anne and Queen Bess.
Lisa Coulson,the interim chief commercial officer at British Steel, said: “This has been a difficult and worrying time for British Steel staff and their families. I can, however, confirm that we are closing the redundancy consultation without action. Since the government passed its legislation on Saturday, we have been working day and night to ensure we are able to stabilise our operations.
British Steel said that ensuring continued supply of coking coal to the plant had avoided the need for a so-called “salamander tap”, a process in which a hole is drilled in the bottom of the blast furnace to let out, or tap, molten metal and slag.
Tapping Queen Bess would have effectively paused its operations, allowing the limited remaining raw materials available to be diverted to keep Queen Anne burning as normal. In theory, Bess could have been restarted but in practice this is not cost-efficient for furnaces that are nearing the end of their lives.
The industry minister, Sarah Jones, said: “The action this government took on 12 April, and the measures we’ve taken since, matter greatly for this country, and are of huge importance to thousands of steelworkers and their families. We will always stand up for our steel industry.
“Now, thanks to our decisive action to protect steelmaking at Scunthorpe, British Steel has cancelled the redundancy consultations started by its owners Jingye, bringing certainty for thousands of hard-working staff for the long term.”
The Unite union said: “Unite are pleased that British Steel have come to their senses and realised that job losses are not the way to ensure Britain remains an industrial power.
“This should be just the first step to begin the process of nationalisation. The government now needs to implement a wholesale overhaul of its energy policy with a commitment to invest in renewables to lower energy prices for heavy industry like steel production.”
Alun Davies, the national secretary for steel at the Community Union, said: “We welcome these positive developments, which follow constructive discussions between steel unions, the Labour government and British Steel management.
“We look forward to continuing these productive relationships going forward. Through this collective effort, backed up by the commitment and resolve of the workforce, Scunthorpe steelmaking was saved from a disastrous cliff edge.
“We will now continue to work tirelessly to ensure the business gets the bright future it needs and deserves.”
