Dear All,
Sorry a day late this week!
AIBI Congress we have uploaded presentations where the speaker has given us permission. If a presentation is unavailable we have not been permitted to upload it and therefore we cannot share it with you.
To view the presentations and photographs please click here – http://www.aibi-congress2019.co.uk They are also on FoB website.
Have a good week.
Gordon Polson – Chief Executive
Federation of Bakers Ltd
Highlights from this month’s CBI Economic snapshot include:
FDF Brexit note from Ian Wright Old journalist friends of mine used to talk about the ‘Silly Season’. It was that period of summer (and the week after Christmas and Easter) when Parliament and the courts weren’t sitting, the business community had gone on holiday and there was, for want of a better expression, no news. In those weeks, aspirant PR people like me vied to have otherwise hopeless stories covered. I was quite good at it. Well this week a different kind of ‘Silly Season’ has been in full swing as the Tory leadership candidates fought it out to be either the truest of believers in a 31 October exit or the most radical on tax cuts. Or both at the same time. It doesn’t seem to have made much difference: the Boris bandwagon continues its lumber towards Number Ten. It’s difficult to see who can stop it. Which is a worry as a Cabinet paper published by the Financial Times points out. It demonstrates that the country is six months away from being ready for a no-deal exit. The no-deal rhetoric is rising. So, at precisely the moment when we should be debating sensible compromises to deliver our EU exit or thinking again about the options, the candidates – with the honourable exception of Rory Stewart – are playing fantasy Conservative Party leader. All this coincided with evidence from FDF’s Chief Operating Officer Tim Rycroft to the Exiting the EU Commons Select Committee. FDF alongside NFU, SMMT and Make UK, told the Committee that no-deal would be catastrophic for our collective member companies, with jobs and investment lost and shopper choice restricted. I hope the remaining candidates will reflect on the very serious, expert advice they will soon receive regarding an October no-deal exit from their officials. But they will be short of time and mostly suffering from what Paul Simon in You Can Call me Al called ‘’a short little span of attention”. I can sum it up in two words: simply unacceptable.
Climate Change: The report published by the Committee on Climate Change (CCC) recommended that the key goal of the UK achieving 80% reduction in carbon emissions in 2050 should be changed to 100%. It is a recommendation at present, but political thinking is moving in that direction. Manufacturers of the UK have been told that by 2050 hey have to be net zero emitters of CO2. However, this is not government policy as of now. Manufacturers tend to dislike being told how to run their businesses. The very individualism that makes them a success also tends to turn them against external pressure. It is seen that the issues of adopting digital manufacturing technologies is evident but who ignore the opportunities presented by digital may not have a future. Roz Bulleid, head of Climate & Environment Policy at Make UK stated that if the government acts on the committee’s advice, it must ensure greater UK ambition is used to leverage further action from other countries too. This is important from both an environmental perspective and in ensuring energy intensive UK industries are not left paying much higher regulatory costs than overseas competitors, dis-incentivising future investments
Folic Acid: The anticipated Government consultation on proposals for the mandatory fortification of flour with folic acid has been launched. Full details of the consultation are available via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/adding-folic-acid-to-flour
The consultation will run until 9th September and is seeking views on if and how this should be implemented including whether voluntary fortification practices should be restricted should this policy be introduced. This will be discussed at the next FoB Technical Panel meeting on 25th June but if you have any initial comments please let me know.
NAO: some Local Authorities failing their food law enforcement duties: The National Audit Office (NAO) has published a report on the work of the public sector in ensuring food safety and standards in the UK, which emphasises the need for collaboration to deal with current and emerging risks. The report recognises the scale of the challenge and that failures in food safety can have catastrophic consequences. It reveals that the cost of delivering food controls in England in 2016-17 was an estimated £164 million, with 73% of costs being met by Local Authorities and Port Health Authorities. Spending on food hygiene by Local Authorities fell by an estimated 19% between 2012-13 and 2017-18 because of funding pressures, with food hygiene staff numbers declining by an estimated 13% relative to the number of food businesses in operation over this period, while food standards staff reduced by 45%. The report suggests that as a result some Local Authorities are failing to meet their legal responsibilities to ensure food businesses comply with the law. The proportion of hygiene checks of businesses (including detecting unsafe food) that were ‘due’ and successfully carried out rose between 2012-13 and 2017-18, from 82% to 86%. However, less than half the food standards checks (to ensure food is what it says it is) that were due took place over this period, with only 37% carried out in 2017-18. The NAO found that, fortunately, most food businesses are meeting hygiene requirements and levels of major food-borne illnesses have been broadly stable. The report also considers the impact of Brexit on food and food regulation in the UK. It suggests that the Government “does not have a clear view on what a financially sustainable food regulation system should look like” and recommends that within 6 months of the UK leaving the EU, the FSA and the Government should start to evaluate the medium and longer term impacts of Brexit on the food regulation system and identify potential resource gaps. The report also expresses support for the introduction of mandatory display of hygiene ratings in food businesses in England. The report was welcomed by the Food Standards Agency Chief Executive, Jason Feeney.
HSE inspectors are now visiting sites across the UK to assess how they are controlling dust, focusing on the construction, woodworking and food manufacturing sectors.
Make sure you know the risks, plan your work and use the right controls by viewing HSE free dust-control guidance.
Find out more about HSE campaign and show your support by downloading #Dustbuster resources.
Industrial Heat Recovery Support Programme (IHRS). On the 24 June, FDF will host a webinar on the Industrial Heat Recovery Support Programme (IHRS). You can register for the webinar here. A short summary of the IHRS and what it could mean for your business, prepared by SLR, is given below.
The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) is running an Industrial Heat Recovery Support (IHRS) Programme, specifically designed to encourage and support industry investment in heat recovery technologies across England and Wales.
The government is supporting businesses that take part by providing them with the chance to bid for co-funding support from a total grant funding pot worth £18 million.
This will help businesses efforts to identify and invest in opportunities for recovering and reusing heat that would otherwise be wasted. For example, it can help with heat recovery opportunities identified under Energy Savings Opportunity Scheme (ESOS) audits.
IHRS can help with the feasibility assessment and implementation of heat recovery opportunities. IHRS is technology neutral and so can support any type of commercially available heat recovery opportunity. The recovered waste heat can be used in many ways including: heating within the same industrial facility, converting it to power, or feeding it into a Heat Network.
IHRS can support our sector’s carbon reduction, environmental and energy efficiency goals and help businesses to grow revenue, lower fuel costs and cut emissions.
So, applying to the programme could mean a benefit to you as an FDF member business and the climate too – it’s a win-win situation.
For more details, you can contact the IHRS delivery team directly at 020 3096 3106. Alternatively, you can email ihrsprogramme@icf.com or visit the website.
CampdenBRI Seminar: Are baked goods safe? – food safety challenges in the bakery seminar-20th September.
Many manufactured baked goods are produced ‘sterile’ but can subsequently be blighted by post process contamination. Bakery products, like many processed foods, are subject to microbiological and chemical spoilage.
A number of food safety and spoilage issues over recent years have been associated with baked goods including acrylamide, allergens, bacteria, mycotoxins and viruses. This seminar pulls together a multi-disciplinary team of experts to cover:
Members of Campden BRI: £250 + VAT
Non–members: £350 + VAT
