The cost of keeping British Steel operating under public ownership has passed £500 million, with MPs warning that taxpayers are continuing to provide around £1.3 million a day while the Government has yet to set out a credible plan for making the company financially sustainable.
The House of Commons Public Accounts Committee issued the warning in a report published on Friday 18 September examining the Government's intervention in British Steel.
The committee said emergency action taken in April 2025 successfully prevented the closure of the company's blast furnaces and protected a strategically important part of the UK steel industry, but did not resolve British Steel's underlying financial problems.
£555m provided by June
According to the committee, by 18 June 2026 the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade had provided £555 million in working-capital funding, including money for raw materials and workers' salaries.
As at March, spending was expected to reach £642 million by 30 June when adviser costs were included.
The committee says taxpayers are continuing to provide approximately £1.3 million every day to support the company.
It warned that the eventual public cost remains uncertain because the department was unable to provide MPs with even indicative estimates for the total cost of the intervention, the investment needed to transform British Steel, future adviser costs or how long taxpayer support will be required.
MPs demand a credible plan
The committee said British Steel remains structurally unprofitable and that, more than a year after the emergency intervention, the Government has not clearly explained the business model or decarbonisation pathway that will put it on a sustainable footing.
It is calling on the Government to publish a plan covering the whole of British Steel and explain how it intends to secure the company's long-term future.
Deputy committee chair Clive Betts said the Government had acted swiftly to save British Steel and safeguard critical national infrastructure, but that intervention was only the beginning.
He said that having brought the company onto the taxpayers' books, ministers now needed to explain their plan for its future.
More than 4,000 jobs involved
British Steel employed 4,052 permanent staff in January 2026 and has production capacity of around three million tonnes of steel a year.
Its Scunthorpe site contains the UK's last remaining blast furnaces and the company supplies around 80% of Network Rail's steel requirements under a £500 million contract.
The committee said uncertainty surrounding the company's long-term business model also creates uncertainty for its workforce.
MPs called for the Government to continue working with North Lincolnshire Council and the three trade unions representing British Steel workers as the company moves towards what the committee describes as a successful low-carbon future.
Concern over wider steel industry
The committee also warned that the scale of financial support being provided to British Steel must not come at the expense of other parts of the UK steel industry.
It pointed to the Government's recent move to acquire Speciality Steel as evidence that British Steel may not be the only part of the sector requiring state support.
MPs want ministers to explain how funding decisions will be made across the wider industry and how taxpayers will be protected as the Government continues its interventions.
Steel tariffs could hurt smaller manufacturers
The report raises separate concerns about the Government's steel tariff regime.
Tariffs on imported steel have been increased to support domestic steelmakers, but the committee says insufficient consideration has been given to manufacturers that rely on types of steel which cannot readily be sourced in the UK.
When officials were asked whether the tariffs could put some smaller businesses out of business, the department acknowledged that this could happen.
The committee is calling for an urgent formal mechanism allowing businesses to raise concerns about the tariff regime and for ministers to explain how unintended consequences for UK manufacturers will be mitigated.
Taxpayer exposure continues
The committee's report does not argue that the original intervention to preserve British Steel should not have taken place. Instead, it focuses on the absence of a clear long-term strategy following that intervention and the continuing financial exposure faced by taxpayers.
MPs said it remains uncertain whether the public money already committed to British Steel will ever be recovered.
The committee is now demanding greater clarity from the Government over the company's future ownership, investment requirements, decarbonisation strategy and the eventual cost to the public purse.