THE FUTURE OF THE DTI – THE 8 ASSOCIATIONS CALL FOR A 'STRONG DEPARTMENT FOR BUSINESS AND ENTERPRISE'

BRITISH PLASTICS FEDERATION

PRESS RELEASE

BPF PR REF: 20/07

Date: 30th May 2007

THE FUTURE OF THE DTI – THE 8 ASSOCIATIONS CALL FOR A ‘STRONG DEPARTMENT FOR BUSINESS AND ENTERPRISE’

For some time the media have speculated that incoming Prime Minister Gordon Brown will break up the Department of Trade and Industry.

The Eight Associations (BPF, BRPPA, BCF, PAFA GTMA, PMMDA, SPRA and NIPA) have written to the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (copy attached) and stated, “We need a strong Government Department to be the voice for business in Government, particularly at Cabinet level.  Never has the need for support for the manufacturing sector been greater.”

The Eight Associations note that the DTI has already suffered a 25% cut in staff and the effect ‘is noticeable’.

The Eight Associations are calling for a “strong Department for Business and Enterprise which is able to authoritatively pursue policies across Government.”

Also, the Eight Associations are against moving responsibility for Energy to Defra (Department for Farming and Rural Affairs) as has been speculated. Their environmental focus would be “an obstacle to the key decisions that must be quickly made on: replacement of our nuclear capacity; more gas storage; more energy from waste.”  Energy “must reside with a Department which has economics and competitiveness as a key focus.”

Peter Davis, Director General of the BPF spokesman for the 8 Associations said, “Manufacturing needs a strong voice in Government to resist the taxation tendencies of the Treasury and the green tendencies of Defra.”

…ends….

For further information on this press release, please contact Thom Lant, British Plastics Federation, 6 Bath Place, Rivington Street, London, EC2A 3JE, tel 020 7457 5001, 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.

2) The Eight Associations are:

British Plastics Federation, BPF

British Rubber & Polyurethane Products Association, BRPPA

British Coatings Federation, BCF

Packaging & Films Association, PAFA

Gauge & Toolmakers Association, GTMA

Polymer Machinery Manufacturers & Distributors Association, PMMDA

Scottish Plastics & Rubber Association, SPRA

Northern Ireland Polymers Association, NIPA