Industrial strategy vital

Unite has welcomed the publication of Labour’s industrial strategy on Monday (June 23), which contains a key aim that Unite has long been lobbying for – reducing sky-high industrial energy costs.

Unite has long been working with government and other stakeholders to tackle the issue of industrial energy costs – the prices that businesses, rather than households, pay for energy.

As part of its strategy, Labour said it will slash energy bills by up to 25 per cent for around 7,000 businesses. Called the ‘British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme’, electricity bills will be reduced for these energy-intensive manufacturing businesses by about £40 per megawatt hour. The firms, which will be decided following a consultation, support over 300,000 jobs in manufacturing. The plan is to reduce their bills by exempting them from paying certain ‘green’ levies such as Renewables Obligation, Feed-in Tariffs and the Capacity Market.

The government also said it would support energy-intensive businesses with “covering more of the electricity network charges they normally have to pay through the British Industry Supercharger”. Currently businesses get a 60 per cent discount, but from next year, this will increase to 90 per cent.

The industrial strategy is a vital first step in that process, but Unite said that the government must go further to provide the entire manufacturing sector the support it needs.

The government still needs to tackle, for example, the long-term problems of the UK’s energy system, which requires bringing it into public ownership, starting with the National Grid.

Unite also urges the government to ensure that the creation and protection of jobs is at the heart of any investment decisions.

The need for the sort of industrial strategy Unite has pushed for was made clear earlier this year when thousands of manufacturing jobs were at risk in steel and other industries – and their respective supply chains.

As UniteLive highlighted in a previous article on the threat of Trump tariffs and the effect they would have on the automotive industry, industrial energy prices in the UK are the highest in all of Europe. This places the UK at a major competitive disadvantage.

Commenting on the publication of Labour’s industrial strategy, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said, “Make no mistake, this is one of the most important measures the government has undertaken to protect jobs and improve job security.

 “UK industry is highly competitive, until you include energy costs which in many industries make it the least competitive. Tackling industrial energy prices is the single most important thing the government can do as part of the industrial strategy.

 “Unite would like to have seen the government go further,” Graham added. “Our energy system is broken beyond repair; it will never function in the interests of business and consumers until it is brought back into public ownership. That must start with the National Grid to ensure industry can get the power it needs when it needs it and is not left waiting for ever for new connections.

 “For too long UK industry has been the poor relation and that must be reversed sooner than later,” She went on to say. “The full effect of the industrial strategy needs to come into effect now. UK Industry can’t wait for jam tomorrow.

 “The government is right to be focussing on jobs creation and skills, but such plans need to be real and effective, not the telephone numbers of the past with no detail. They also need to deal with the decisions to be made in the here and now that affect jobs, like the decision to buy British Typhoons and a clear plan for Grangemouth.”

Unite has also voiced concern that the timescale for the implementation of the strategy – 2027 and beyond – is far too late. Because UK industry has suffered years of lack of government support, Unite believes an earlier implementation date is necessary, alongside a clear funding plan.

By Hajera Blagg