Recommendation 17

All three trade unions praised the Department for its open communication about the intervention and agreed that, despite changes of government, the Department had provided consistent support.47 They said that the Department and its civil servants had been key to a successful intervention, and that morale in the workforce had improved since the intervention. 48 They noted that British Steel restarting apprenticeships was a welcomed by the local community.49 Councillor Rob Waltham was also positive about how the Department had engaged with North Lincolnshire Council at the start of the intervention. They had been involved in the negotiations over closing the blast furnaces before the intervention, holding weekly meetings with the owner, and working closely with the Department and Members of 42 Q 24 43 Q 39 44 Qq 2-4 45 GBS0004 46 Qq 3, 4 47 Qq 10-11 48 Qq 2, 10 49 Q 2 14 Parliament for the local area. It praised the effectiveness of the relationship with government, noting that, sadly, economic shocks had brought out the best of cross-government working.50