Public Procurement
We have been asked to contribute to a new government review of public procurement announced in the 2008 Budget. This provides a valuable opportunity for member companies to benefit from government contracts and to guide our input, we would like to draw on the experiences and expertise of companies through an SME Procurement Panel which will inform our response and feed directly in to the official review.
It will also participate in a workshop, run by EEF and officials from HM Treasury and serve as a sounding board for our final recommendations. This half day workshop will be held at EEF’s London office on the afternoon of 17th July and if you are interested in attending please confirm your availability with Charlotte Greenidge at either cgreenidge@eef.org.uk or 020 7654 1531.
Work & Pensions
We met with Lord Mackenzie, the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Work & Pensions for our regular quarterly meeting. We gave our continued support to the government’s package of measures for pensions reform and stressed the need to maintain cross party consensus, in addition to discussing some technical aspects of the reforms.
We did however urge some initial financial assistance for smaller companies when personal accounts are introduced, something the government to date has given little indication it is considering. We also briefed him on the findings of our 2007 sickness absence survey, our report on an ageing workforce and the implications for government policy on retirement and rehabilitation. For further information, contact Head of Employment Policy, David Yeandle dyeandle@eef.org.uk
Environment Agency
As a key stakeholder we were asked to meet at the earliest opportunity the new Chief Executive of the Environment Agency, Paul Leinster, who has replaced Baroness Young. He was keen to hear our views on a number of key topics and tap into our policy expertise. We stressed to him that inefficient use of energy and raw materials was a vital issue for companies and that manufacturers are playing a key role in reducing emissions and waste.
In developing policy we urged the Agency to focus on more appropriate risk based enforcement, a reduction in the administrative burdens on business, clearer guidance and a reward for good performance by companies. We also added the importance of simplifying the regulatory system for waste and making it more proportionate and cost effective. For further information, contact Head of Environment Gareth Stace, gstace@eef.org.uk
HM Treasury
We had our quarterly meeting with Peter Schofield, Director of Enterprise & Growth at HM Treasury. His policy area covers key elements for our sector including science, innovation, skills and regulation and we updated him on a number of current concerns and work programmes.
As well as current economic conditions and work on high growth sectors, we briefed him on specifics including measures to expand the Enterprise Investment Scheme, concerns on proof of concept funding and regulation, especially the regulatory budgets and ways in which small firms could be exempt. We also covered our newly established Innovation Monitor which the Treasury views as a key feeder into their policies on innovation. They have requested further discussions on this issue as soon as possible. For further information, contact Chief Economist Steve Radley, sradley@eef.org.uk
Pay settlements
Tougher economic conditions have resulted in manufacturing pay settlements falling for the third consecutive month to their lowest level for more than 18 months, according to our latest figures. For the 3 months to the end of May the average level of pay settlements fell to 3%, slightly lower than the previous 3 month figure of 3.1% and is the lowest level reported since October 2006.
In the same period, the number of companies reporting pay freezes rose quite sharply to just over 7% of all settlements, the highest figure reported since March 2006. The number of companies reporting that they had deferred their settlement also rose to just over 6% of all settlements, the highest level reported since December 2002. For further information, contact Head of Employment Policy, David Yeandle, dyeandle@eef.org.uk