Dairy UK welcomes the Government’s decision to review the energy tax landscape for manufacturing businesses and calls for the continuation of Climate Change Agreements (CCAs) as part of the solution.
Dairy UK and representatives of the UK food and drink production and manufacturing sector have set out their shared views on the business energy tax consultation in a letter to Government Ministers.
The sector is calling for CCAs to be developed further as they have proven to be an extremely effective mechanism for inducing gains in energy efficiency and protecting industrial competiveness.
Climate Change Agreements are schemes which give energy-intensive industries a discount on the Climate Change Levy as long as they meet their efficiency targets.
The food and drink production and manufacturing sector accounts for around one third of all energy used within CCAs and the scheme is key to the industry’s continued effective contribution towards energy efficiency without jeopardising its competitiveness in domestic and global markets.
Dr Judith Bryans, Chief Executive of Dairy UK, said: “The Climate Change Agreements have been a great success so far – they are an excellent and durable way of driving improvements in the dairy sector.
“The dairy industry has achieved a 15% improvement in energy efficiency since 2008 and the CCA scheme has undoubtedly played a key role, setting long term, sector specific targets, which provide important investment security for businesses.
“CCAs have also led to the welcome benefit of establishing a comprehensive dataset on sector performance, which has been well utilised by government, and the scheme has provided opportunities to exchange data, best practice and advice, which collectively have immeasurably helped to accelerate changes in industry standards.
“The UK dairy sector continues to take its environmental responsibilities very seriously and therefore it is crucial that the Government simplifies the existing energy tax landscape and recognises the significant gains in energy efficiency that have been brought about by the CCA.”
