Source · Select Committees · Business and Trade Committee
Recommendation 9
9
Accepted
Paragraph: 50
Specify strategically critical industrial capabilities to onshore within the UK battery supply chain.
Recommendation
It is not feasible or desirable to onshore the end-to-end battery supply chain. The UK cannot have a self-sufficient supply of lithium-ion batteries and will continue to rely to some degree on imports of raw minerals, materials and components. However, building the UK’s industrial capabilities across the battery supply chain, and especially in midstream processes such as the refining of raw minerals and the manufacture of cathodes and anodes, will confer strategic advantages. The Government should specify the industrial capabilities within the UK battery supply chain that are strategically critical to onshore along with new interventions that will encourage relevant businesses to locate in the UK. Such specifications could be set out either in the forthcoming UK Battery Strategy or in response to this Report.
Government Response Summary
The government's UK Battery Strategy has identified strategically important industrial capabilities (e.g., cathodes, anodes, recycling) and committed £2 billion in capital and R&D funding until 2030 to unlock strategic investments in the battery supply chain, including midstream processing.
Paragraph Reference:
50
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
A) As highlighted in the responses to the UK Battery Strategy Call for Evidence, the rapid growth of global battery demand and other net zero enabling technologies is putting pressure on the global upstream and midstream supply chains. The UK’s clean growth sectors have access to the critical inputs that are essential to their success, including through the publication of the Supply Chains Resilience Framework and the Critical Minerals Strategy. B) The UK Battery Strategy has identified a variety of strategically important industrial capabilities that will support the development of our battery supply chain, including the production of cathodes and anodes and the recovery of critical minerals from recycling. The Government is providing targeted support for zero emission vehicles, batteries, and their supply chains, including through £2 billion of capital and R&D funding to 2030. This builds on the work of the Automotive Transformation Fund programme that aims to establish a competitive and sustainable UK supply chain for electric vehicles, including by unlocking investment into midstream materials processing. C) The UK Battery Strategy set out government’s intent to explore a range of policy options to deliver against our priorities, including through fifteen specific commitments. We will continue to convene a Battery Strategy Taskforce to advise on the delivery of the strategy, emerging risks to security of supply, and opportunities for the UK government. D) The Critical Imports and Supply Chains Strategy will help UK business build secure and reliable supply chains, which are vital to the UK’s economic prosperity, national security and the delivery of our essential services. We want to equip UK businesses with the tools they need to deal with global supply chain issues – from overcoming bureaucratic barriers to dealing with severe shocks caused by events like the Covid pandemic, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, environmental disasters and more recently attacks in the Red Sea that have threatened a key route for global trade.