Policy Update 3rd October 2023

Welcome to this week’s policy update. As ever please do get in touch with me, suzanne@cumbriachamber.co.uk, if you would like to discuss the following, or other, business issues, put forward your views and/or provide real life examples that we can use in lobbying activity.  

The team at British Chambers of Commerce continue to be out and about working on your behalf, although it’s quieter than usual again this week as the House of Commons is in recess for the Party Conference Season. This week:

• Director General Shevaun Haviland, along with other members of the BCC team and representatives from across the Chamber Network is attending the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester.
• Shevaun will also be meeting with the Irish Ambassador to the UK to discuss building on the momentum of the Windsor Framework.

At the Conservative Party Conference the BCC team will be undertaking a packed agenda of meetings, roundtables, and panel sessions on your behalf. These include engagements with: the Foreign Secretary, Energy and Net Zero Secretary, Business and Trade Secretary, Economic Secretary to the Treasury, Financial Secretary to the Treasury, and Ministers for Small Business and for Disabled People, Health and Work. Topics for discussion include longer term planning for growth, addressing economic inactivity, the skills agenda, and SME priorities. 

They are also meeting with commercial and policy stakeholders, such as Heathrow, Rail Partners, Lloyds, BCW, and the Natwest.  

Following BCC’s fringe event, The Power of British Business – a framework for the future, Chambers' fringe event next week at the Labour Party Conference focusses on People and Work – how can business and government work together to address skills shortages. If you’d like more information see last week’s policy update or drop me an email, suzanne@cumbriachamber.co.uk.  

Last week the BCC team:

• Met with The Earl of Minto, Minister of State in the Department for Business and Trade (DBT).
• Spoke  the EU Embassy.
• Talked with Shadow Trade Minister Gareth Thomas MP  to discuss key areas of interest such as export strategy, trade with Indo Pacific and the Americas.
• Discussed with DBT officials the policy and legislative solutions required to underpin the commitment to retain the indefinite usage of CE marking for most goods placed upon the UK internal market.

Last week the BCC published a new report entitled Planning for Business - 2023 and beyond. The report outlines a series of urgent improvements to unlock the planning system across the UK. The report was put together by the BCC’s Planning Expert Panel, made up of industry specialists who are Chamber members. The policy document also highlights how the planning system must support the transition to Net Zero and calls for a more robust appeals system. Planning Manifesto (exactdn.com). 

Also last week Chambers marked the first meeting of our Digital Revolution Challenge by publishing data on the intention of businesses to utilise AI technologies. You can read more here: Half Of Businesses Have No Plans To Use AI - British Chambers of Commerce. 

Next month the UK government will be hosting the first ever major global summit on Artificial intelligence (AI) safety.  The event will take place on 1st & 2nd November at Bletchley Park in Buckinghamshire. The aim of the summit is to agree targeted, rapid, international action to promote the safe and responsible development of AI. You can find out more and get involved here: AI Safety Summit: introduction. 

If you’re in the visitor economy and haven’t yet responded to Cumbria Tourism’s latest ‘business performance tracker’ survey there’s still time to have your say. Your first-hand evidence is vital for informing Cumbria Tourism’s destination marketing work and will help us make Cumbria’s case with national politicians, decision-makers and industry bodies. The survey, being carried out alongside Lamont Pridmore, takes a few minutes to complete and all responses are anonymous. If you haven’t yet had chance, you can take the survey now:  Tourism Business Tracker Survey (snapsurveys.com). We work closely with Cumbria Tourism on visitor economy issues so this will be useful to us too. 

It was great to be part of a vibrant and energising Together event, led by Westmorland & Furness Council last week. The Council is committed to making Westmorland & Furness a great place to live, work and thrive and their council plan sets out their vision, values, and key priorities for the next five years in a fresh and ambitious vision. The event presented this plan and engaged partners actively in working together to really make a difference. We look forward to continuing to work with Westmorland & Furness Council and other stakeholders on this on behalf of local business. 

The EU’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism began phasing in from the weekend. You can read a primer and actions list from the European Commission here: The Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism starts this weekend (europa.eu).

New UK rules on trade remedies on certain iron and steel imports, principally from Russia and Iran also took effect from the weekend. You can read more here: Trade remedies notices: anti-dumping duty on hot-rolled iron and steel products from Brazil, Iran, Russia, and Ukraine - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

The weekend also saw the commencement of new arrangements on customs, controls, and labelling under the Windsor Framework for products moving between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme offers a simplified process for moving pre-packaged retail food from Great Britain to Northern Ireland. Businesses will benefit from the new green lane arrangements, avoid extensive and costly certification and assurance processes and be able to move products that meet UK public health, organics and fisheries rules. Guidance for businesses can be found here Northern Ireland Retail Movement Scheme: how to register and seal consignments - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) and you can sign up to Defra webinars on this and more here: Defra: Information and Training Sessions Events | Eventbrite.

And finally, the weekend also saw the introduction of bans and restrictions on a range of polluting single-use plastic items. You can read more here: New bans and restrictions on polluting single-use plastics come into force - GOV.UK.

The next BCC Trade Policy Committee is on 24th October, so please let me know beforehand anything you’d like to feed in, suzanne@cumbriachamber.co.uk. 

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero is hosting an in-person event in Manchester on 22nd November to showcase some of the projects funded in Phase 2 of the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF). The IETF Technology Showcase event will include an opportunity to hear from industrial sites who are deploying technologies to reduce their energy demand and carbon emissions with support from the IETF. You can find out more and book here:  Summary - Technology Showcase: Industrial Energy Transformation Fund, Phase 2 (cvent.com). 

A public consultation is underway on updating labelling guidance for no and low-alcohol alternatives to seek views on whether to raise the threshold for describing a drink as ‘alcohol free’ to 0.5% alcohol by volume (ABV). The threshold in the UK is currently 0.05%. The consultation is seeking your views and is open until 23rd November.  You can get involved here: Updating labelling guidance for no and low-alcohol alternatives - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). 

Suzanne Caldwell

Managing Director