Industry and Exports (Financial Assistance) Bill: HL Bill 170 of 2024–26

Approximate read time: 14 minutes

The bill would amend existing legislation to increase the statutory limits on financial assistance the government can provide to support UK industry and exports. It would achieve this by increasing the funding limit in the Industrial Development Act 1982 to £20bn and in the Export and Investment Guarantees Act 1991 to £160bn. The bill would also amend the existing legislation that allows the government to make regulations to make incremental increases to the funding limits. The government has argued the bill is needed as part of its policy to support a pro-growth, export-led economy.

The bill received broad cross-party support during its House of Commons stages. Opposition parties tabled amendments at committee stage on subjects that included:

• preventing financial assistance to businesses that may be involved in modern slavery
• preventing financial assistance for exports that may circumvent the sanctions regime relating to Russia
• transparency for any future support for the UK steel industry

The government did not support the amendments, arguing that the bill was not the appropriate means to address these issues. The bill ultimately passed without amendment.

The government has published explanatory notes, a delegated powers memorandum and an impact assessment to accompany the bill.