BPF Attends Manufacturing Summit

On Tuesday 9th December the British Plastics Federation’s Director General Peter Davis attended a Manufacturing Summit called by Conservative Party Leader David Cameron MP.  When the BPF met Cameron earlier in the year he said he wanted Plastics to be at the Summit. Amongst the 25 attendees were Directors of Rolls Royce, Airbus, Toyota, Jaguar Land Rover, BAE Systems and the heads of the CBI, EEF, IOD, SMMT and SBAC. The top companies and organisations in UK manufacturing, Mr Cameron set his Party against the Government’s “spend now tax later” policy to get the UK through the recession.  He wants to exert firm control on Government spending to reduce the burden of debt and tax rises once the recession is over.Mr Cameron said the Conservative Party’s view had changed and now recognised the need for balance and resilience in the economy and the importance of “value added manufacturing”.
Help during the Recession

Mr Cameron asked those present what would help short term in the recession.

Peter Davis welcomed the Conservative idea of a temporary National Loan Guarantee Scheme and also a similar scheme for Credit Insurance. He also welcomed the Conservative idea of “Business Mentors” retired MDs or FDs helping SMEs get through the recession.

He warned the Summit that volatility in Energy costs and security of supply problems had not gone away. We needed urgently more gas storage, modern nuclear power and Energy from Waste.

He urged Mr Cameron to reject the Government’s Bill that would give local authorities the power to levy a Supplementary Business Rate from April 2010.

Peter Davis said Government must cut its expenditure. Public sector employees had increased by 900,000 since 1997. There should be a freeze on recruitment except for front line staff such as nurses and fire-fighters.

Peter Davis and many others present called for a substantial increase in Government support for Exporting.

Apprenticeships and Taxation

Shadow work and Pensions Minister David Willetts MP was concerned that Apprenticeships should be NVQ Level 3 not level 2 and that he would support full funding of the costs of education for over 19s.

Shadow Chancellor George Osbourne MP was anxious to avoid the Government’s increase in NICS planned for 2011 and wanted to reduce Corporation Tax and its complexity.

Finance and Credit

David Cameron asked all present for good examples of where credit is withdrawn from perfectly sound companies.  The BPF will consult our Recession Action Group on this.

Peter Davis said, “With a General Election within the next seventeen months it’s vital we influence the policies of all the political parties.  However, with a serious recession we must ensure the Conservatives and BERR and Bank of England officials get an accurate picture of what is happening and our proposals on what action to take.

“The Plastics Industry is seen as a key innovative component of the Economy and the BPF is seen as its voice.”

ENDS . . .

For further information on this press release, please contact Philip Batten, British Plastics Federation, 6 Bath Place, Rivington Street, London, EC2A 3JE, tel 020 7457 5000, fax 020 7457 5045, email: [email protected]

Notes for editors
1)     British Plastics Federation (BPF) is the UK trade association for the plastics industry – representing the whole supply chain including polymer producers, distributors, additives suppliers, machinery manufacturers, processors and recyclers.