Gareth Snell MP warns ceramics jobs and factories at risk after government scheme excludes sector
Gareth Snell MP warns ceramics jobs and factories at risk after government scheme excludes sector
Gareth Snell, MP for Stoke‑on‑Trent Central, has warned that jobs will be lost and more factories will close in the UK ceramics sector following the government’s failure to include it properly in the new British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme (BICS).
Speaking in the House of Commons, Mr Snell challenged the Secretary of State for Business and Trade after it emerged that the scheme provides little to no support for large parts of the ceramics industry.
The ceramics sector supports a wide national supply chain and is a significant exporter.
In a question to the Secretary of State, Gareth Snell MP warned that the exclusion of ceramics risks offshoring production entirely, undermining the government’s own housebuilding ambitions and increasing reliance on high‑carbon imports.
Gareth said: “There is now recognition that Britain faces an industrial energy crisis, and I welcome action for some sectors. But the ceramics sector has once again been left out. There is nothing here for tableware, giftware, tiles, clay pipes or bricks despite the government’s target to build 1.5 million homes. Instead, we’ll import bricks made in coal‑fired kilns and shipped halfway around the world, rather than making them in North Staffordshire.
“Ceramics employs tens of thousands of people, supports exports, and underpins British manufacturing. We were told help would come in the Budget, then the Autumn Statement, then the Industrial Strategy and now BICS. Factories will close because of this decision. Jobs will be lost.
“The government must decide whether it is prepared to act, or whether it is content to oversee the end of domestic ceramics production in the UK.”
In response, the Secretary of State acknowledged the pressures facing the ceramics sector and confirmed he is willing to visit Stoke‑on‑Trent, the first Business Secretary to do so in over five years, to meet manufacturers and hear their concerns directly.
Commenting afterwards, Gareth said: “Ministerial visits and meetings are not enough. We’ve met with Ministers, indeed the ceramics businesses themselves met with ministers just 2 weeks ago. We’ve repeatedly warned government about the severe consequences for the ceramics sector if they continue to be left out of these schemes and strategies and still we find ourselves in the same position. ‘We’ll meet and we’ll listen’, but now the government must respond to what the sector and I have been telling them we need in order to survive before we lose this national asset forever.”