UKWA submits proposals to Chancellor for Spring Budget

Mar 04, 2023 Warehousing Ireland BREXIT, e-commerce, Logistics, Materials Handling, News, Storage, UKWA/AIWA, Warehousing Comments Off on UKWA submits proposals to Chancellor for Spring Budget

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Treasury sources have suggested that the Chancellor is planning a ‘slimmed down’ Spring budget on March 15th, with no tax cuts. Instead, stabilising the economy and boosting growth will be top priorities as the government seeks to re-establish confidence within the business community.

Accordingly, UKWA has prepared a detailed submission of key requirements for the Warehousing sector, which is a vital part of that business community.

UKWA has prepared a Spring Budget Submission with four key proposals:

• Business Rates are unfair to Warehousing

UKWA is asking the Chancellor to reconsider how business rates are calculated for warehouses and to increase the level of transitional support.

• The untapped potential of solar

UKWA is calling for the so-called ‘super-deduction’ first-year 50% tax-break to be extended to at least 2030 to support warehouses in installing solar panels, following its ground-breaking research into solar PV on warehouse rooftops last year.

• Extending Energy Bill Relief

While The Energy Bills Discount Scheme (EBDS) continues energy bill support for businesses, this is at a reduced rate. UKWA is requesting more support in this area for warehousing – and particularly for temperature controlled facilities whose bills rise in the summer months.

• Support for skills

The Generation Logistics campaign, supported by the Department for Transport, has already paid dividends in helping raise the profile of the industry and attracting workers to the sector. UKWA believes it is deserving of government’s continued support and requests further funding.

UKWA CEO Clare Bottle says, “Warehousing is one of the fastest growing sectors in the UK, together with the wider logistics community, we contribute £139 billion Gross Value Added (GVA) to the UK economy, with an estimated one in ten workers in the private sector employed within our industry.

We believe the Spring Budget creates an unmissable opportunity for the Chancellor to empower warehousing businesses to drive growth, contribute to decarbonisation, control energy costs and support the government’s levelling up agenda.”

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