MPA Welcomes BIS Committee’s Recommendations for Domestic Extractives Plan and BIS Extractives Minister
MPA welcomes The Business, Innovation and Skills Committee’s Report ‘The Extractive Industries’, published today, which takes direct account of key evidence highlighted by the Mineral Products Association (MPA) and the CBI Minerals Group (CBIMG) in a number of its recommendations to Government, namely:
• “We recommend that the Department publishes a domestic extractives plan setting out the extent and range of its support — both structural and financial — and how it intends to realise that ambition.”
• “We recommend that the existing Industrial Strategies be amended to take into account energy policy in the UK, upon which a large section of the extractives sector is reliant. That policy should explicitly take account of the UK’s domestic extractive sector and the Government should consider other strategic minerals such as potash and rare earths.”
• “We recommend that, in addition to coordinating and taking responsibility for the delivery of the domestic extractives plan, the Minister in BIS be given clear responsibility for leading policy in this area. This must include coordination with the devolved administrations where appropriate.”
Nigel Jackson, Chief Executive MPA and Chair of the CBI Minerals Group, said, “We strongly support the Committee’s recommendations that BIS should publish a domestic extractives plan, that the existing Industrial Strategies be amended to take into account UK energy policy and our domestic extractive sector and that a BIS Minister should be given responsibility for the delivery of the domestic extractives plan. All of these proposals were put forward to the Committee in evidence provided by MPA and CBIMG. MPA and CBIMG are already working on a UK Minerals Strategy which could have a significant influence upon a domestic extractives plan.
“We very much hope that these important recommendations are now urgently adopted by Government. We believe that these would be the most significant developments in mineral and extractive industry policy since the Royal Commission on Aggregates chaired by Sir Ralph Verney in the mid 70s. Such policies should enable the UK economy to become more resilient as it relies upon essential, steady and adequate mineral supply, both energy and non-energy.”
The publication of the BIS Committee report ties in with the CBI ‘Living with Minerals 5’ (LWM5) Conference taking place on 17 November 2014 at the QEII Conference Centre, London, which has the theme ‘Towards a UK Mineral Strategy’. Adrian Bailey MP, Chair of BIS select committee, will be providing an update on the recent inquiry into the extractive industries at the event and other stakeholders and leading speakers from Government and industry will also speak.
