British-made Bricks (Proposals)

I beg to move,

That leave be given to bring in a Bill to require the Secretary of State to publish proposals for measures to increase the use of British-made bricks in construction projects in the United Kingdom, including specific measures relating to the building of new homes; and for connected purposes.

This Bill is a big deal for my community back home in Newcastle-under-Lyme. Our people are smart and skilled; for generations, they powered our nation, they made, they designed and they thrived. My Bill is about ensuring that communities in our industrial heartlands are not forgotten or left behind and are given the opportunity once again to show what they are made of.

We all know that there is a housing crisis in our country, so I welcome the commitment to build 1.5 million new homes by the end of this Parliament. That means that we build in the right places, with respect for our green spaces and our natural world, and do it with our people, not to them. As we do that, we must remain resolutely focused on building good-quality homes and building communities. That is how we end overcrowding, stop the struggle facing families across the United Kingdom in finding affordable, long-term and secure housing, and—importantly—give young people and first-time buyers a place to call their own.

I have only ever owned one home, and it is in Newcastle-under-Lyme. I want all families to have the security that their own home can and will provide, but this is not just about homes; it is about new schools and the community centres that bring people together. It is about the new hospitals. It is about the restoration of this place. It is about buying British, building with British, and backing British workers.

The manufacturing base for bricks here in the United Kingdom is ready to meet the demand for our building needs of all types. With that readiness, we would and should expect to see a thriving building material industry in our country, but we do not. Instead, we see manufacturers up and down the country on the brink, thanks to a lack of domestic demand.

Our United Kingdom can produce around 2 billion bricks a year, yet most manufacturers are currently operating at around 70% utilisation. That is because in recent years, this country has started to rely on second-rate imports, often of a lower quality than the bricks made to the highest of British standards. We must start giving the British brick industry the backing it deserves, and we will do that with this Bill.

The British brick industry started to decline when brick kilns were shut across the country following the economic crash of the late noughties, and brick imports to the United Kingdom began to make up for that decrease in domestic production. Around 20% of the brick market is now made up of imported bricks. That impacts our workers and hits British manufacturing, and it needs to change.

Imported bricks are being shipped over longer distances, including from far across the seas, with each brick used resulting in a greater carbon release. British-made bricks, from Newcastle-under-Lyme and across the country, will typically travel shorter distances to building sites, helping to lower transport-related emissions and keeping their value in our local communities.

It is bonkers that we are relying on second-rate imports when British-made bricks are of the highest quality and build resilient, long-lasting homes and buildings. That is important in the context of the building safety reforms required after the disgraceful Grenfell disaster, the costs of energy, and how we preserve our planet and protect our environment. A typical clay-brick building has a lifespan of around 150 years; at the end of that life, the bricks can be refurbished, recycled and reused. They are strong, weather-resistant and fire-resistant. They provide longevity, durability and adaptability, and they sit a cut above the rest.

The lack of domestic demand for British-made bricks hits our economy and damages local businesses. Newcastle-under-Lyme—as I have said before, the centre of our collective universe—is home to one of 15 Ibstock factories. Ibstock is a leading British brickmaker, with a proud history of supplying bricks to British businesses, builders and the wider construction industry for more than 200 years. At its factory in Chesterton in Newcastle-under-Lyme, it employs local people, boosts our local economy and rightly makes the case that we must do whatever we can to reduce the risks of undermining the competitiveness of British-made bricks, and I agree.

North Staffordshire is the ceramics centre of not just our country, but our world, and the industry is hurting. My constituency neighbours over the A500—I see a couple of them here today—and colleagues on the Government Benches will continue standing up for the ceramics industry and keep pushing the Government to go further and to do more in standing up for and protecting the industry in our communities and this country. This Bill is part of doing just that.

Despite being best known for producing tableware, the ceramics industry plays a crucial role in our ability to build anything in Britain. We cannot manufacture steel, glass or—as my Bill draws attention to—bricks without it. The sector and its supply chain are concentrated in our part of the world, but over the last few years, the industry has suffered huge losses due to rising energy costs, trade disruptions and the ongoing impact of the illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Let us get real about it: the ceramics industry is hard to decarbonise, but let us not forget that our businesses are willing to engage and to make their contribution to that effort. Progress can be and is being made. Recent initiatives, such as pilot hydrogen-fired kilns, demonstrate that the industry is committed to modernising itself with low-carbon manufacturing. Hydrogen production is vital to manufacturers having the confidence to move away from natural gas kilns to modern electric and hydrogen-fired manufacturing processes that will future-proof the industry.

The ceramics industry cannot deliver this transition without sustained support, and my Bill is one part of the jigsaw. Another key part is skills, and I am so proud that Newcastle college, based on Knutton Lane in Newcastle-under-Lyme, offers a full-time level 1 diploma in brickwork. We are upskilling our people in Newcastle-under-Lyme, but we cannot do so without sustaining our British brick industry in future to ensure that those young people have something to do with their smarts, skills and qualifications. The potential cost to the livelihoods of people in my community, and to the strength of our local economy and businesses, is too great for us not to get this right. My Bill sets out a local-first approach that will help support our ceramics industry, and I look forward to working with His Majesty’s Government to do more in the weeks and months ahead.

As I present my Bill today, I think of the many men and women over generations who have worked in the ceramics industry in Newcastle-under-Lyme and north Staffordshire. I think of the potential untapped, the opportunities yet to be taken and the future that we can build together. I am grateful to colleagues from all four nations of our United Kingdom, and from both sides of the House, for putting their names to my Bill.

The Government must invest in further support so that we can safeguard jobs in communities like mine in our industrial heartlands, support our local economies and ensure that the British brick industry is fighting fit. My Bill is simple and common-sense, and its time is now. Our workers deserve it and our economy needs it. My Bill will help shape and build the future of our United Kingdom, so let us get on with it.

That Adam Jogee, Henry Tufnell, Elaine Stewart, Dr Allison Gardner, Gareth Snell, Jacob Collier, Leigh Ingham, Samantha Niblett, Amanda Hack, Martin Vickers, Rachel Gilmour and Robin Swann present the Bill.

Adam Jogee accordingly presented the Bill.