Chinese job cuts threat to Government’s £300m British steel rescue
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The government vows to scrap British Steel’s £300m bailout package if the Chinese owners cut jobs
The government will scrap a £300m bailout package for British Steel if its Chinese owners cut jobs.
Sources in Whitehall said the funding, expected to be announced within days, was conditional on Jingye’s pledge to invest £1bn in Britain’s second largest steelmaker and protect jobs until 2030.
But the company is preparing for a consultation on around 800 redundancies, with a particular focus on the Scunthorpe factory, which employs 3,500 of its 4,500 staff.
British Steel has struggled for the past ten years.
Jingye became its third owner in four years when it bought it out of bankruptcy in 2020.
Job cuts: British Steel’s Chinese owner Jingye is preparing for a consultation on around 800 layoffs, with a particular focus on the Scunthorpe plant
But it now thinks it needs taxpayer money to keep its doors open.
Last month, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt was said to be about to sign a £300m bailout package.
When asked if that would be jeopardized by budget cuts, a source in Whitehall said: ‘It would be, yes.’ British Steel said last month that without aid it would close one of the site’s two blast furnaces within weeks.
Hunt would say that the government will pay for the aid package in the coming years.