Policy Update 25th July 2023

Welcome to this week’s policy update. As ever please do get in touch with me, [email protected] , 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 (BCC) continue to be out and about working on your behalf. This week:

• Alex Veitch, Director of Policy and Public Affairs, BCC will be attending a business roundtable convened by the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Education, Susan Acland-Hood.
• The BCC team will be meeting with Senior Officials and Civil Servants in the Department for Business and Trade to present the findings and recommendations from our recently released Trade Manifesto 2023.
• The BCC team will also be meeting with the Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords, Lord Newby OBE, to discuss the Party’s upcoming General Election Manifesto.

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Last week the BCC gave evidence to the House of Commons Business and Trade Select Committee on Tuesday on UK-EU Trade and the improvements business wants to see.?You can find out more here: 18 July 2023 - The 2026 review of the UK-EU Trade and Cooperation Agreement - Oral evidence - Committees - UK Parliament .

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The BCC has also been raising issues of regulatory divergence affecting UK businesses with the European Commission and member states.

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Coverage of the 2023 Trade Manifesto has been excellent and has led to new engagement opportunities with the UK government and elsewhere at Westminster. We and BCC re keen to hear any views on the proposals, so please do feedback via me, [email protected] . You can read the Manifesto here: BCC Trade Manifesto 2023.pdf (britishchambers.org.uk)

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Last week the UK government announced a consultation on an upgraded trade deal with Turkey to replace the current goods-only deal agreed around the time of Brexit. The BCC sees opportunities in the forthcoming negotiations. You can find out more and get involved here: UK - Türkiye Joint Statement: July 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) and read the BCC’s comments here: TURKEY TRADE NEGOTIATIONS A KEY STEPPING-STONE (britishchambers.org.uk) .

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The Business and Trade Secretary, Kemi Badenoch MP has signed the UK’s Accession Protocol for the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) on Sunday morning in New Zealand. You can read the BCC’s comments on the UK accession to the agreement here: ASIA-PACIFIC TRADE BLOC DEAL A BOOST FOR EXPORT PROSPECTS (britishchambers.org.uk) .

The 13th World Chambers Congress took place from 21st – 23rd June in Geneva, attended by 1,400 participants from 117 countries, including representatives from the BCC team. A pioneering “Geneva Manifesto” was launched, a pledge by Chambers of Commerce to revitalise international trade with a renewed commitment to multilateralism for peace and prosperity. You can read more here: Geneva Manifesto to revitalise global commerce and strengthen multilateralism??- ICC - International Chamber of Commerce (iccwbo.org) .

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Acas is updating its statutory Code of Practice on handling requests for flexible working in a reasonable manner. This is in anticipation of reforms to flexible working legislation. The aim is to help employers, representatives and employees understand the law and what good practice looks like. The consultation closes on 6th September 2023. You can get involved here: Acas consultation on the draft Code of Practice on handling requests for flexible working | Acas .

Call for evidence on Labour Market Enforcement Strategy. The Director of Labour Market Enforcement is seeking evidence to inform their strategy for 2024 to 2025. The call for evidence covers emerging trends and risks to labour market non-compliance. The closing date is 8th September 2023. You can find out more and get involved here: Labour Market Enforcement Strategy 2024 to 2025: call for evidence - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) .

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The Disability Action Plan consultation is an open consultation aimed at anyone with an interest in the action the Government will take during 2023 and 2024 to improve the lives of disabled people. Disabled people and disabled people’s organisations may be particularly interested but anyone, including any organisations or individuals, may respond. The proposals include initiatives like promoting life-changing technology for disabled people, mandating disability awareness training for taxi drivers, implementing autism-friendly programmes in cultural and heritage sites, and fostering a more inclusive society in the long run. The consultation runs for 12 weeks and respondents can comment on all or part of it. Alternative accessible formats of the consultation are available (or available to request, for Braille, hard copy and audio CD), and include: full-screen BSL video / BSL inset video, Welsh translation, Easy Read, large print, web accessible PDF and HTML, Braille, hard copy, and audio CD. This is in addition to an online version of the consultation questions, hosted by CitizenSpace which was chosen in part on the basis of its high levels of accessibility. The consultation is open until 6th October 2023 and you can respond here: Disability Action Plan 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) .

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DWP and the Department of Health and Social Care have launched an Occupational Health consultation to encourage employers, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises, to adopt Occupational Health provision. This includes introducing a national "health at work" standard to ensure quality Occupational Health services, along with additional government support. The aim is to create a longer-term, multi-disciplinary workforce to meet potential future demand.?By promoting health in the workplace and improving support for workers, the Government aims to reduce economic inactivity, enhance workforce well-being, and boost employment opportunities.?The consultation is open until 12th October 2023 and you can get involved here: Occupational Health: Working Better - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) .

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The Department for Transport and Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities have launched a call for evidence seeking views on the interaction between freight and logistics and the planning system in England. “The Future of Freight: a long-term plan” sets out the objective of a planning system that recognises the needs of the freight and logistics sector and empowers the relevant authority to plan for them. The government would like to know what works well for planning freight and logistics, what does not work well and if there are improvements to be made.?The evidence received will help underpin any new or amended planning policies that reflect the government’s vision and expectations for local planning authorities in planning for freight. It will also ensure sufficient land is allocated to service the needs of freight and logistics. The consultation closes on 6th October. You can read the plan here Future of freight plan - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) and respond to the consultation here: Freight and logistics and the planning system: call for evidence - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) .

The July 2023 Labour Market Briefing has been published. This contains the claimant data and HMRC data released by ONS this morning together with the latest available data on job postings, NEETs, business start- ups and business performance.?Thanks as ever to Ginny Murphy of Cumberland Council for producing this. The full briefing can be downloaded here: https://www.cumbriaobservatory.org.uk/economy-employment/economy-employment-further-information/ .

Key national headlines are that:

• Employment and unemployment both increased in the quarter to May whilst economic inactivity fell slightly.?
• The employment rate of 76% is 0.2 percentage points up on last quarter but still 0.6 percentage points lower than before the pandemic.?This was attributed to a rise in part time employment.?Total hours worked increased and are above pre-pandemic levels.
• The unemployment rate (including non-claimants) was 4.0%, an increase of 0.2 percentage points over the quarter and is now similar to before the pandemic.
• The inactivity rate (those not in work and not seeking work) was 20.8%, a fall of 0.4 percentage points over the quarter but still 0.6 percentage points higher than before the pandemic and inactivity due to long term ill health remains at a record high.
• The number of vacancies, measured via a survey of businesses, fell in the quarter to June to 1,034,000 but remains 232,000 higher than before the pandemic.?
• Annual growth in total pay (including bonuses) was 6.9% and growth in regular pay (excluding bonuses) was 7.3%.?However, in real terms this represents falls of 1.2% and 0.8% respectively.?Average annual private sector regular pay growth was 7.7%, the highest growth seen outside the pandemic period and public sector pay growth was 5.8%, the highest growth rate since 2001.

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Key local headlines are that:

• The total number of payrolled employees rose to 222,991 in June 2023, in contrast to a fall nationally.?There are now 2,584 more residents in payrolled employment than a year ago (+1.2%).
• Median payrolled earnings were ￡2,197 in Cumbria in June 2023 which is 95% of the UK average.?Annual growth in payrolled earnings in Cumbria has exceed the average for the UK (12.0% v 9.7%).
• The count of claimants actively seeking work fell by 60 to 6,680 between May and June 2023 in contrast to a rise nationally, and the count is now 395 lower than a year ago.?The count rose in the former district area of Carlisle (+40), was unchanged in Copeland and fell elsewhere.?The claimant rate in Cumbria was 2.2% in June 2023 compared to 3.7% nationally and is below the national figure in all districts.?However, the claimant rate for 18-24 year olds remains above the national average in Barrow, although it has now fallen below the national rate in Allerdale.
• There were 36,267 claimants of Universal Credit in June 2023 (including those seeking work, already in work or not available for work).?This is an increase of 256 from May and means 12.1% of the population aged 16-64 is in receipt of UC.?There were increases in claimants in the number seeking/planning/preparing for work fell as well as the number in work and not available for work.
• There were 324 young people aged 16/17 classed as NEET in May 2023, down 7 from April, giving a NEET rate of 3.2% compared to a national rate of 5.0%.?The rate was below the national rate in all 6 former district areas.
• There was a further rise in active online job postings in June 2023, up by 739 compared to May to reach 14,478.?This is a monthly increase of 5.4% (NB: this is a different methodology to the ONS vacancy survey reported above).?However, the number of newly posted vacancies fell by 11.3% which may indicate new demand is slowing but existing demand is still not being met.?As is generally the case, the highest volume of postings was for vacancies in the health sector followed by retail, accommodation and food & beverage services.?Occupations most in demand were kitchen & catering assistants, care workers, nurses, cleaners & domestics and sales assistants.
• There were 602 small business start-ups in the quarter ending May 2023 which is 121 more than last quarter and 21 more than the same quarter last year.
• There were 30,690 active companies in Cumbria at the end of June 2023, 45 fewer than in May and there were 187 businesses newly recorded as dissolved/in liquidation during the month.
• The financial risk data from Red Flag Alert has been updated with a new classification system which indicates that 60.5% of the Cumbrian companies with a score were rated at having Red Flags or Provisional Red Flags.?This is higher than the national average of 48%, mostly due to Cumbria having more provisionally rated companies (those with only one set of accounts on which to base a score).

Suzanne Caldwell

Managing Director

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