The UK government has indicated that it is inclined to nationalise British Steel as the Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Bill completes its passage through the House of Commons.
"The Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Bill has completed its passage in the House of Commons and has entered the House of Lords. Based on the information currently available, the government is strongly minded to use the powers in the bill to bring British Steel into public ownership in due course, subject to the public interest being satisfied and taking into account all relevant facts at that time," said industry minister Chris McDonald in a statement published on the parliament's website on 18 June.
To date, the government has already provided around £555mn ($734.55mn) in working capital, covering items such as raw materials and salaries. These funds will be reflected in the Department for Business and Trade's accounts for 2025–26 and 2026–27, McDonald added.
UK legislation that could enable the nationalisation of British Steel has now moved to the House of Lords after clearing its final stage in the House of Commons in early June. While the legislation is not solely focused on British Steel, it is expected to grant the government powers to bring steel companies into public ownership.
Following this development, Jingye Group, the Chinese owner of British Steel since 2020, issued a statement on 11 June. The company said that "the British government has not yet provided reasonable compensation". Jingye added that it has recently initiated consultation procedures under the bilateral investment agreement with the UK government, demanding that London "respect the objective facts and provide timely, full and effective compensation for Jingye's investment losses in British Steel".
The government took control of British Steel's operations in April 2025 under emergency legislation aimed at keeping the company's Scunthorpe blast furnaces running.
