Member

I turn to new clause 2, which relates to steel. The reporting requirements for UKEF under existing legislation are clear. We are intent on making sure that we have a proper steel strategy to protect the sector for our security interests and its jobs across the whole of the UK; that is all very important. But I think there is a fundamental misunderstanding in the new clause about the functioning of UKEF, which is essentially demand-led and not determined by Government centrally, except in very exceptional circumstances. There is one other flaw in the new clause: most of the major steel plants in the UK are in assisted areas, so financial assistance usually comes from section 7 of the Industrial Development Act 1982 rather than section 8, which is what the new clause refers to.