Given the immense scale on which national steel policy is being conducted and given the horrific nature of some of the policy departures, there is a danger that the resultant drama for some steel-making communities will overshadow considerable problems and anxieties in other steel-making communities. I want to draw the attention of the Leader of the House to some of those dangers before the Christmas Recess with the plea that he brings them to the notice of the Secretary of State for Industry.

The dangers that I have in mind relate broadly to steel making in South Yorkshire and Sheffield. They concern, first, the future structure of steel making in that area; secondly, the future investment policy for the Sheffield River Don works; thirdly, the future policy on scrap that will, all too unhappily, arise from the current proposals as they will bring about closures; fourthly, the extent to which steel, especially at the quality end, continues to be embarrassed by the ever-rising level of car imports; and, finally, the embarrassment for steel arising from the unlimited importation of silicon manganese or spring steel.

First, as regards the future structure of steel-making in South Yorkshire and Sheffield, the BSC Sheffield division has emerged unscathed from last week's steel cuts announcements. With world steel depressed, South Yorkshire's top-quality special steel has now become BSC's only money-spinner. Given recent proposals, it seems certain to dominate BSC's production schedules. This extraordinary development is the result not of any massive increase in the steel-making capacity of the Sheffield division but of savage pruning in every other BSC production area.

BSC's Sheffield steel make has been confirmed as 3·5 million tonnes a year in future. That is 10 per cent. up on last year's total output. Only BSC Teesside will eventually rival South Yorkshire, gradually building up to a similar annual tonnage. When the steel produced at Scunthorpe—a further 3 million tonnes a year—is added to the Sheffield total, the new BSC Yorkshire and Humberside division, which will arise from an amalgamation of the two centres next year, will totally dominate production, for the new steel grouping will bring together plants, managements and sales staff in South Yorkshire and Humberside or, more particularly, Scunthorpe. It will replace the current BSC Sheffield division and take from that grouping steel plants at Stocksbridge, Tinsley, Park and Rotherham. The remainder of the Sheffield division—forges, foundries and engineering as well as BSC Stainless—will go into another new corporation offshoot that will be known as BSC Holdings.

These developments, given what is happening to steel elsewhere—notably in Wales—might ordinarily have proved reassuring in South Yorkshire; but, given the outlook and the known philosophy of the Secretary of State for Industry, they have had the contrary effect. They have given rise to fresh anxieties and to speculation.

Announcing the reorganisation earlier in the month, Sir Charles Villiers said that the intention was not to create a business to hive off. The House should note that, when announcing the reorganisation, Sir Charles Villiers was quick to add the reassurance that there was no intention to provide a convenient way for hiving off. It was intended merely to provide for more effective ways of making steel. But, if new offers were received for any of the new groupings, Government policy would require Sir Charles Villiers and his colleagues to consider them. That has given rise to anxiety in Sheffield. Bearing in mind its political masters, the BSC will have no alternative but to consider any such offers.

Therefore, I want to bring this matter to the attention of the Leader of the House and, through him, to warn the Government that the widely held view in Sheffield is that there should be no hiving off from BSC and that BSC should remain responsible for its present range of operations. Those operations cover not only steel making but stainless steel production and finishing, razor blade strip manufacture, forging, casting, engineering and a whole range of mainstream operations.

Far from wanting to see steel making split, or any of these operations hived off, BSC Sheffield, to the best of my knowledge and that of my hon. Friends from South Yorkshire, would also be opposed to any wrecking measures. After all, if this is currently the only profitable sector of British Steel, why sell it? People are bound to want to know, or they would not be human. How can anyone contemplate such a step and expect the climate within the industry and the morale of men and management to remain unaffected? Morale is already at rock bottom in the industry, and the Government should be concerned to restore it rather than to undermine it further.

Although BSC has been in existence only since 1967, the present reorganisation is the fourth major administrative reshuffle that South Yorkshire plants have had to face. That in itself is unsettling enough; but if that were now to be followed by a dilution of public ownership, I again warn the Government that that would be regarded in Sheffield as intolerable.

I turn now to my second point—future investment policy in BSC's River Don works. It would seem that it has now been granted a breathing space, but that famous steelworks is still being denied the £7 million investment which its heavy forge needs and which could be crucial in its battle to get back to profitability.

Thirdly, what about the steel scrap that will arise from the closed works and what about the policy on that aspect? Clearly, millions of tonnes of prime scrap will gradually become available—not at a cheap price in all cases—and much of it will become available to the BSC.

What about the position of the private sector? The private sector in Sheffield views the position of future scrap supplies with distinct unease, given the expected price rise in the new year and the absence of any restriction on the free flow of scrap overseas.

Fourthly, the public and private sectors of the steel-making industry in Sheffield are concerned about the rising level of car imports, as well as the unlimited importation of silicon manganese or spring steel.

Those are some of the anxieties that curretly affect the steel industry in Sheffield and South Yorkshire. I trust that the Leader of the House will bring them to the attention of the Secretary of State for Industry.