'Uncertainty needs early resolution' - MPA Brexit policy priorities for Government
The Mineral Products Association (MPA) has published an initial review of the potential consequences of Brexit, focussing on key areas of interest for the mineral products sector.
In the briefing, the Mineral Products Association has identified six areas of priority the Government must incorporate into its response to ‘Brexit’ - complementing action taken by the Bank of England and giving industry greater confidence to invest.
The industry supplies £20bn worth of materials and services to the UK economy and is the largest supplier to the construction industry, which has an annual output valued at £144 billion.
Current forecasts suggest that the UK will experience lower economic and construction activity through to 2018. The future relationship with the EU single market is unclear which creates uncertainty and reduces confidence and will feed into delayed or lower business investment generally and in construction.
“This is not a “political” judgement on Brexit but a reasonable economic assessment”, said the organisation.
“The real issue is not the short term effect of the Brexit vote but the medium and longer term impacts which will become more apparent as we move into 2017 and 2018.”
Another area of priority for the MPA is ensuring that the UK remains attractive for inward and domestic investment. The association said that there was lost economic momentum in 2016 and forecasts weakness in 2017 and 2018 needs a response which will minimise uncertainties, encourage and boost both public and private investment and build confidence as the top priority.
The briefing also calls for an early decision on key national infrastructure investments, notably for transport and energy eg HS2, Hinkley Point, the 3rd runway in the South East, Swansea Tidal Lagoon will help boost business confidence and protect jobs.
They association said: “Speeding up the delivery of Highway England’s Road Investment Strategy will help pull through short term and local construction activity as will increasing ring-fenced resources to enable local authorities to accelerate transport investment projects and local road maintenance.
“Increasing incentives for private investment, for example through a very significant time-limited increase in capital allowances and extending their scope to include new buildings and construction works.”
The MPA urges the Government to work with industries to improve the efficiency and implementation of current regulation and to ensure sound due diligence on post Brexit regulation to improve current competitiveness and productivity.
MPA does not anticipate major short term legislative changes related to Brexit after 43 years of complex regulatory evolution, saying: “European Directives are transposed into UK law and it is unlikely that UK regulators will choose, for example, to lower standards related to environmental performance. It is important that Government clarifies any proposed regulatory changes to enable proper evaluation and to avoid unexpected consequences. However, there may be opportunities to improve the implementation of regulation to suit UK circumstances.
“The UK is very influential in the development of European Standards and Codes and we will need and want to sustain a common and consistent set of standards for UK industry and our customers through continuing engagement in European Standards development whatever our ultimate relationship is with the EU Government and other organisations, including the MPA, are reviewing the future application of EU Directives and regulations to identify potential opportunities to increase our competitiveness and improve productivity.”
The MPA also said “urgent action” is needed to speed up the delivery of new housing, with a focus on new thinking to increase the development of affordable housing by housing associations and local authorities.
The final call to action is for a strong government focus on skills. They argue it is essential that the government guarantees UK residence for valued EU workers and thinks creatively and innovatively to enable the UK to balance access to the single market with proportionate and sufficient free movement of labour to help fill our skills gap.
The association said: “The Mineral Products Industry currently employs significant numbers of EU citizens and some of our customer industries, notably construction, are heavily reliant on EU citizens to deliver current levels of industry workload. Currently there is no guarantee that EU citizens now resident in the UK will have a continuing right to reside in and work in the UK following Brexit. This uncertainty needs early resolution.”
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