Weekly Snapshot

This week I saw a news story on a study questioning the infinite monkey theorem – the idea that a monkey with a typewriter, given enough time, could write Shakespeare’s entire works. Apparently, the universe would end before it would get the chance.  There is an obvious joke in there somewhere related to the BPA snapshot, and whether given enough time we could have every week’s light-hearted news roundup, summary of BPA activity, looking ahead section, pre-written. So until that day comes...

This week we kept things ticking over whilst Richard was away on leave with a Security & Resilience working group meeting, various meetings with the MMO and DfT, and a thorough digest of the Chancellor’s Autumn statement (more below). One of the headlines is a rise in employer National Insurance contributions, which will likely affect many ports.

Next week is also the US election, which I have probably paid too close attention to over the past few weeks for my own good (I can recommend the NY Times Podcasts for when you’re cooking, commuting, etc.). Some swing states may take days to count, but we should have an idea of the result by the AM (GMT) on Wednesday. I’ll be operating on GMT+9 (KST) for the next two weeks on annual leave but will be wired in to see if DJT is P47.

Enjoy your weekends. TGIF!

GF

Budget Summary

The Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, has announced the new Government's first Budget. As you will likely have seen reported, it is one of the most significant fiscal events in years, with spending and tax increases larger than generally expected.

£40bn of tax rises were announced to meet both what the Chancellor says were unfunded spending from the previous government and an overall increase in both government investment and day-to-day spending. 

We have produced a comprehensive summary of all the measure relevant to ports in Circular 262, covering growth forecasts, tax changes, spending plans and policy announcements.

The bulk of the additional tax revenue will come from a rise in employer national insurance contributions. We are collecting information from ports on how this may affect your business with a very short survey.

Employment Rights Bill consultations announced

Earlier this week the Employment Rights Bill had its second reading in Parliament with the aim of altering working conditions. As part of this, the Department for Business and Trade has published their first tranche of consultations which close in early December.  These include UK wide changes.

The consultations cover a number of different aspects of the Bill such as an industrial relations framework; the application of zero hours contracts; strengthening statutory sick pay; and collective redundancy and ‘fire and rehire’. These are linked below in case you want to see the detail.

• Strengthening statutory sick pay
• Application of zero hour contracts
• Industrial relations framework
• Collective redundancy and fire and rehire 

We will look to feed in where relevant and are following the Bill closely in case it presents any challenges for the ports sector. As this is general employment law proposals we will also be feeding into the likes of the CBI who should also have a good level of influence. 

Finally, as we advised the media this week, UK ports and harbours typically pay above average salaries and are responsible and fair employers so we don’t see anything major arising from these new provisions although we are still examining the proposals. We would however suggest that the UK Government should be mindful of rushing any substantial changes through without proper thought, consideration and consultation. As ever we welcome members views.

BPA Net-Zero Maturity Assessment Tool

The deadline for the first round of submissions to the BPA's new Net-Zero Maturity Assessment Tool has been extended to Friday 22nd November. This is to allow additional ports that have signed up to contribute to the initial round of data collection. 

The tool is designed to support ports in their journey towards decarbonisation by allowing participating ports to:

• Accurately self-assess their progress in reducing their carbon emissions.
• Identify gaps and opportunities for improvement.
• Anonymously benchmark themselves against UK industry averages.
• Gain access to an annual sustainability report.
• Contribute to wider policy discussions with government. 

You can find out more about the tool on our website, or contact rhona.macdonald@britishports.org.uk for further information on how to get involved.