In August the Secretary of State for Transport, Patrick McLoughlin,visited the long-awaited A11 project to see how work wasprogressing. His visit formed part of a wider tour of the region insupport of investment in infrastructure across East Anglia.
Mr McLoughlin was joined by Matthew Hancock, MP for West Suffolk,and Elizabeth Truss, MP for South West Norfolk, who were given aguided tour of the new A11 road and visited the B1112 underpass fora close up of construction work.
Delighted by the speed of progress Mr McLoughlin commented:”I am really impressed with what I have seen and when the work isfinished it is going to make a tremendous difference to this region – it’svery encouraging.”
Ms Truss spoke of the huge importance the scheme would have ontowns such as Thetford and said: “Businesses here are going to bethe main beneficiaries of this [scheme] and I know that many in thetown have already started to prepare for when it’s completed.”
The project is currently on track to complete by winter 2014.
Party conference developments The key energy policy developments from the party conferences, to date, are:
At the Labour conference Ed Milliband used his leader’s speech to announce that a future Labour government would cap gas and electricity bills for 20 months. While the policy has proved popular initially they are concerns about its impact on the costs prior to the next election and the ability of energy companies to upgrade an ageing infrastructure.
The Liberal Democrats supported a motion to back nuclear power, a policy u-turn, on the grounds it will help tackle climate change. The party also agreed to accept fracking if it takes place under stricter regulation.
IPCC Fifth Report The UNs Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has published its latest assessment of climate change science. The report states that scientists are 95% certain that humans are the “dominant cause” of global warming and that a pause in warming over the past 15 years is too short to reflect long-term trends. The assessment increased the likelihood that a legally binding global agreement could be reached in 2015. As the UK is a global leader in addressing climate change a comprehensive agreement would reduce the risk of UK based companies relocating to countries with less strict environmental targets.
Skill shortages behind oil and gas wage increases Average wages in the UK’s oil and gas sector are set to rise by 15 per cent this year – breaking through the $100,000-a-year ceiling – as record levels of investment in extracting Britain’s reserves create shortages of trained staff in the industry. Data compiled by industry recruitment site Oilandgaspeople.com reinforce previous analysis of employment trends in the industry.
Government rules out new subsidy for gas storage The government has decided against intervening in the market to encourage new gas storage facilities. They said the UK energy market functioned well and attracts gas from a range of sources. Michael Fallon, business minister, said the decision would save consumers up to £750m over 10 years. But the decision was criticised by many who claim that lack of gas storage is undermining UK’s energy security. Since the announcement Centrica has cancelled plans to build two storage facilities.
UK shale gas development will not be at expense of climate change targets In a speech this month the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, Edward Davey has said that if shale gas could be developed in an economically viable and environmentally friendly way, it would benefit the UK by increasing energy security. He was responding to the findings of a new report which estimates that the carbon footprint of UK produced shale gas would likely be significantly less than coal and also lower than imported Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG).
Severn Barrage case unproven according to government In a response to a House of Commons committee report the government has said that the plans for a £25bn barrage in the Severn Estuary are not viable. Backers of the scheme argue the tidal barrage could generate 5% of the UK’s electricity. Last summer the Commons’ Energy and Committee report found that that the backers “have yet to provide robust evidence of the viability of the project”. It is very unlikely the proposal in its current form will succeed.
Upcoming developments
Energy Bill to complete its Parliamentary stages and become an Act of Parliament
Offshore wind industrial strategy
Draft nuclear strike price to be published
Oil & gas review interim conclusions will be published in the autumn
A final version of the EMR delivery plan will be published in December.
For further information contact Tom Nolan at 020 7654 5824 or [email protected]
Space for Growth is an initiative to make space on the Government Estate available for free to small and medium enterprises, charities and social enterprises. The first step is to make workstations available in office buildings. However, in future, this will not be the only facility on offer. There will also be retail opportunities like pop up shops, free meeting rooms and other types of buildings becoming available.
Through this portal you will be able to view details of the workstation spaces currently available. If you wish to book a workstation or simply wish to be informed of future developments you can register your organisation here and we will keep you updated with regular email bulletins.
To use space in government buildings you need to go through a basic security clearance procedure. This is a two stage process. Firstly, you need a Disclosure Certificate. Some people will already have one of these because, for example, they volunteer for certain charities or are school governors. If you do not have one you can get one via Disclosure Scotland. They have an online application facility and charge the minimum cost of £25. This should take around 5 or 6 days to come through. Once you have a certificate, you can then apply for clearance, which should take no more than 2 days. You are then good to go and can book desks to work at in government offices completely free of charge.
Commenting on Prime Minister David Cameron’s speech at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, Caroline Williams CEO Norfolk Chamber said:
“It is encouraging to hear the Prime Minister put enterprise, wealth generation and aspiration at the forefront of his speech. This will strike a chord with businesses of all sizes, as only business growth can propel Britain’s economy from being just good to being truly great.
“We support his mission to ensure that everyone under the age of 25 is either ‘earning or learning’, as we cannot allow Britain’s next generation to be left behind. It was also good to hear the Prime Minister talking about long-term planning as politicians can often be too short-termist. This must be applied to infrastructure projects in particular, as these are an economic stimulus in their own right and will create jobs and drive growth for decades to come.
“If the eighteen months until the next General Election are spent on ensuring fiscal discipline, improving infrastructure, helping businesses access capital, training up our young people and supporting our exporters, the Prime Minister’s vision is achievable. But if our political class descends into cheap electioneering and giveaway politics, it will have wasted a once-in-a-generation attempt to build a strong new foundation for economic growth.
“David Cameron has set out a clear vision, but the harder task of making it happen still lies ahead. The government cannot afford to become complacent, and must focus on creating an environment that supports enterprise, and puts economic growth at its heart.”
Cutting red tape for business improvement districts that help small shops and local traders
The Department for Communities and Local Government has today (1 October 2013) ended the cumbersome red tape which made it harder for local firms and traders to set up business improvement districts where high streets stretch across council boundaries. For full details click here.
New competition authority comes into existence
The UK’s new unified competition body, the Competition and Markets Authority, launched today in shadow form before going live in April 2014. The Competition and Markets Authority will bring together the Competition Commission (CC) with the competition and certain consumer functions of the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) in order to promote competition, both within and outside the UK, for the benefit of consumers. For more information click here.
New measures to increase rural home-building
Towns and villages will now find it easier to get the development they need after changes to the village green system that will stop it being abused came in today. Village green status protects land that is regularly used for recreation but loopholes in the system have increasingly been abused by people looking to stop local development. As well as having a negative effect on the rural economy and reducing the value of land – often by over 90% – this reduces the availability of rural homes, facilities and hospitals across the country. To read more click here.
New farm policy clears key hurdle: Agriculture MEPs endorse CAP reform deal
Legislation for the new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) was endorsed by the Agriculture and Rural Development Committee on Monday, following last week’s informal agreement in talks between Parliament, the Council and the Commission.To read the full story, click here.
Five member states exceed their milk quota (for deliveries)
Five Member States – Austria, Germany, Denmark, Poland and Cyprus, – exceeded their milk quotas for deliveries in 2012/2013, and must therefore pay penalties (“superlevy”) totalling roughly €46 million. Click here for more details
Euro area unemployment rate at 12.0% & EU28 at 10.9%
The euro area1 (EA17) seasonally-adjusted2 unemployment rate3 was 12.0% in August 2013, stable compared with July4. The EU281 unemployment rate was 10.9%, also stable compared with July 4. In both zones, rates have risen compared with August 2012, when they were 11.5% and 10.6% respectively. These figures are published by Eurostat, the statistical office of the European Union. For full details click here.
Read updates issued by the Export Control Organisation including details about imposition of arms embargoes, Open General Export Licence amendments or announcements about Control List changes.
Great Yarmouth Borough Council has commenced consultation on their Core Strategy. The Core Strategy is the key document in the Local Plan setting out strategic policies for new homes, new jobs, retail and leisure facilities, transport and local services as well as energy and the environment. To find out more and to have your say click here.
A new milestone in the King’s Lynn and West Norfolk economy is reached next month.
A partnership of the Borough Council, UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), the governments international trade service provider and Norfolk Chamber of Commerce will present and introduction to trading overseas and also look at business opportunities in Germany and France to an audience of business people in Yours Business Networks, Tuesday Market Place.
The event which will be opening by West Norfolk MP Henry Bellingham follows the decision by the Borough Council to join the European Hanse Business League.
Council Leader, Nick Daubney said, “The Hanse Business League is a really exciting network of towns and cities predominately in Germany and like us are promoting opportunities for their businesses to an ever widening market place. Adding a French connection too makes this a very important event.’
Informative presentations will be made by Steve Exon, an experienced exporter, the Hanse business League and from one of UKTI’s offices in France on the current international trade opportunities for their market.
Heather Garrod, President of West Norfolk ChamberCouncil said,” This is a unique networking session that allows businesses to explore trading links with the rest of Europe. We expect that from this event that a delegate would travel to various networking session in mainland Europe next year.’
Pat Smith, UKTI’s Partnership Manager commented ‘UKTI is delighted to be working in partnership with the Hanse Business League, Morston Assets, West Norfolk Council and the Norfolk Chamber of Commerce to organise this important event. With modern communication technology and a good range of European flights from Norwich, Stansted and Luton, West Norfolk businesses can reach out to opportunities worldwide’.
The event “European Opportunities Live” takes place on Friday 11th October at Yours Business Networks King’s Lynn. The event is free to attend and to register please contact Leon Palmer of UKTI on 01707 398728 or email [email protected].
Norfolk’s business community came out in force for a business lunch with Chris Salmon, Chief Cashier of the Bank of England, to discuss the case for the introduction of polymer £10 and £5 banknotes.
In the presentation, Chris set out to cover a number of questions, including why the Bank had chosen to conduct a public consultation about whether to move to polymer – and what other central banks had chosen to make the change.
Discussing the Bank’s consultation exercise, Chris said: “Our aim was to provide as comprehensive a picture as possible of the issues associated with any change…Recognising that changes like this are rare events, we have taken our time and have sought to undertake as comprehensive analysis as possible before reaching the point we are at today.”
Norfolk Chamber Members had the opportunity to hear the full range of the potential benefits of introducing polymer banknotes: improved cleanliness, greater durability and superior counterfeit-resistance. Members were also given sample notes to handle for themselves, which caused a lot of animated discussion.
In terms of durability, for example, Chris explained that the current paper banknotes have a lifespan of 2.3 years, whereas the polymer notes have a predicted 6 year lifespan. Should the Bank introduce polymer notes following the consultation, the Bank would also look at recycling schemes that could result in 96% of each polymer note being recycled.
The lunch in Norwich was part of a national consultation process, with the Bank holding 50 events across the country over two months. The aim is to gather feedback from a variety of audiences. As part of this process, Chris took questions from the Norfolk businesses assembled.
Questions raised included whether the UK was moving towards a cashless economy, whether the introduction of polymer notes would affect retailers operating self-service machines, and the environmental benefits of polymer notes over paper.
Commenting on the speech by shadow business secretary, Chuka Umunna MP, Caroline Williams CEO Norfolk Chamber said:
“Chuka Umunna is right to say that apprenticeships must be of high quality if they are to be attractive both to employers and to young people alike. His arguments in favour of longer, higher-level apprenticeships will resonate with many companies, as a training system that works for business is a pre-requisite for a great economy.
“Yet a high-growth, high-productivity economy isn’t created by increasing wages or employment regulation. It depends on business investment, first and foremost. Promoting investment, rather than new employment laws, should be the top priority for the Labour Party as it develops its policy platform.”
Commenting on the Labour Party Conference speech by the Shadow Chancellor, Rt Hon Ed Balls MP, John Longworth, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said:
“Ed Balls identified many issues of concern to business in his conference speech, including infrastructure and growth finance. Yet Labour’s policy alternatives on the key long-term economic issues remain embryonic at best. Many policy reviews have been undertaken, but Labour’s renewed credibility with business rests on swiftly setting out concrete and clear measures on the key issues facing companies across the UK. And Labour must address worrying hints that they are starting to lose their nerve on transformative investment projects, including HS2, in favour of current spending.
“I can’t help but feel that many speeches during the party conference season so far are missing the relentless focus on growth that is still sorely needed. Britain’s political class is already focusing more on electioneering, spending commitments and populist rhetoric than on transforming the UK economy from good to great. New tax burdens are being proposed to fund giveaways at a time when we need to be focusing on growing the overall size of our economy, not simply carving up what’s already there.
“Balls made several encouraging commitments, such as new funding to help capitalise a British Business Bank and a pledge to create an independent infrastructure commission. These are important steps in the right direction that all parties could build on.”