Scunthorpe MP Nic Dakin and Chamber ‘together’ on steel and Humber Devolution

Scunthorpe MP Nic Dakin pictured with the Chamber’s Northern Lincolnshire Area Council Chair Kathy Fillingham at the Fenestra Centre, Scunthorpe.

THE Chamber’s North Lincolnshire Area Council focused heavily on concerns over the future of Tata Steel’s Scunthorpe plant at its last meeting with MP Nic Dakin following the closure of the SSI Steelworks in Teeside. Just days after this meeting, Tata announced it was cutting 900 jobs in Scunthorpe.

In his Parliamentary Report, Mr Dakin told members he was holding a Steel Summit with the region’s other local “Steel MPs” Andrew Percy and Martin Vickers, in Rotherham to discuss concerns over the future of the UK’s steel producers in what he described as “a perfect storm” of high energy prices, raw material costs, the strength of the pound and below cost import dumping from China.

Mr Dakin and the Chamber agreed that the steel industry is going through a particularly challenging time, the SSI closure was a blow to confidence in the UK Steel industry, but not a surprise, but that it inevitably raised concerns about Tata Steel Long Products’ business in Scunthorpe, although the Scunthorpe plant did have orders for new railway tracks and other work.

He told the meeting that the way the Klesch Group acted when they withdrew their plans to buy the Scunthorpe steelworks was damaging because it had blamed the UK Government alone when in reality it was due to a mixture of high energy costs, business rates and cut price imports from China especially.

Mr Dakin said he welcomed support from the Chamber to raise the profile of the issue with Ministers in order to put pressure on the Government over the profound challenges faced by the UK steel industry.

On the subject of Devolution and the Humber area, Mr Dakin made it clear he believed Devolution and Combined Authorities should be delivered Humber-wide. He said: “I think a Lincolnshire bid is not the best solution. The Government won’t approve all the offers before them in November, and Lincolnshire haven’t got an elected mayor in their proposals which the Government wants.

Mr Dakin said he would continue to lobby for a Humber-wide solution working with the Chamber. He also noted that Andrew Percy and Melanie Onn had also publicly supported the Humber continuing to work together.