Newsletter 22nd November 2022

Businesses Get UK Marking

Businesses are given two more years to use the new safety markings.

Grant Shapps said businesses will have two more years to apply new product safety marks, enabling thousands to focus on development.

UKCA is part of the UK's extensive regulatory structure, showing that products comply with customer-safety rules.

Due to post-pandemic fluctuations in demand and supply, Putin's conflict in Ukraine, and high energy prices, the government does not want to force businesses to meet the original date (December 31, 2022).

Businesses have until December 31, 2024, to be ready for the UKCA marking since the government will continue to recognise the CE marking for another two years. Businesses have the option to pick which marking to use by using the UKCA marking.

For manufacturers, the government is also examining the product safety framework. This ensures that companies don't face too many laws and that our system keeps current with new ways like e-labelling. As part of this, the government will make product markings simpler.

This package will provide tens of thousands of firms, including makers of electronics and elevators, more time to concentrate on development and job creation while providing them additional legal choices.

Different requirements apply to medical devices, construction items, cableways, mobile pressure equipment, unmanned aircraft systems, rail products, and marine equipment. Each sector's government department is developing preparations.

Shell to Reconsider ￡25bn UK Projects Following Tax Extension

Shell will evaluate ￡25bn in UK investments after the?chancellor increased the windfall tax.

David Bunch said that the oil giant would look at each project "case by case" after Jeremy Hunt raised the tax on "excess" oil and gas revenues from 25% to 35% in last week's autumn statement.

The measure raises the overall tax paid on oil and gas revenues to 75%, although fossil fuel companies may claim relief for investments.

Shell proposed a ￡25 billion investment plan five months ago. Still, Mr Bunch said the government's decision, designed to fund energy support and balance the national balance sheet, meant it would be reconsidered.

Mr Bunch urged the government to outline how the windfall tax might be scrapped when prices returned to historical averages.

Oil and gas businesses benefited from high prices driven by demand and, more recently, the Ukraine conflict but were hurt by the first version of the windfall tax, imposed by then-chancellor Rishi Sunak in March at a rate of 25%.

Last month, the business provoked demands for a probe when it disclosed that its UK branch had paid no windfall tax while earning worldwide revenues of ￡26 billion due to a North Sea drilling project exemption.

Mr Bunch also confirmed that Shell would not take government energy assistance for any of its enterprises, even though the existing plan, which expires in April, is open to companies of any size.

MP?Rejects a Brexit Agreement Based on EU Law

According to Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, the UK won't seek a post-Brexit partnership with the EU "that depends on compliance with EU regulations."

It comes after reports that some government officials want an agreement more like that of Switzerland, with less conflict and more immigration. Controlling immigration, according to Mr Sunak, was one of the early advantages of Brexit.

Ministers and Downing Street disputed the allegation, but it worried several Brexit-supporting Conservatives.

Home Office Minister Robert Jenrick told the BBC it was impossible to disentangle Brexit, the coronavirus outbreak, and the Ukraine conflict.

He said the government was committed to taking advantage of Brexit's prospects, citing plans for financial services, biosciences, and the green economy.

He also said the government doesn't want to modify the UK's relationship with the EU, saying the nation has the proper attitude.

2023 Rating Revaluation

The Valuation Office Agency (VOA) has adjusted the rateable values of all commercial and non-residential property in England and Wales. These potential rateable values will be in effect beginning April 1, 2023.

Learn the ins and outs of the business rates calculation process, why all this matters, and more here.