Politics Home | Regulatory “stones in the business backpack” a little lighter

Steve Elliott Chief Executive of the Chemical Industries Association commented “The Chancellor’s financial room for manoeuvre was obviously limited, so it’s a relief to see that some progress has been made on minimising additional cost to UK chemical businesses. In particular, the reversal of Treasury thinking on the revision of the landfill tax – retaining the standard and lower rates rather than combining at the higher level – exempting green hydrogen from the climate change levy and certainty around the plastic packaging tax are all helpful decisions.

There are also supportive moves on increasing apprenticeship places and funding, but we are still stuck with an intransigent levy system that does not allow companies to properly invest in a way they could. Looking to the future, the promise of funding for UKRI and expansion of more support for science is welcome – as long as we see that innovation is turned into manufacturing at scale here in the UK.

Returning to the here and now however, the OBR’s downwards revision of economic growth projections out to 2030 provides a stark illustration of the need for urgent support on the fundamental constraints facing UK chemical companies – namely the cost of energy and carbon. Confirmation that the Government is consulting on wider energy relief under the British Industry Competitiveness Scheme is good news, but many chemical companies need to get through the next 18 months before that becomes meaningful”.