A round up of key activites in the last quarter of 2024.
Official Opposition Ministers
Kemi Badenoch MP was elected Leader of the Conservative Party on 2 November 2024 and has appointed her shadow ministerial team. Key appointments for the industry include:
Department for Business and Trade Ministerial Team
- Andrew Griffith MP – Shadow Secretary of State
- Harriett Baldwin MP – Shadow Minister of State
- Greg Smith MP – Shadow Minister of State
- Lord Sharpe of Epsom – Shadow Minister of State
DEFRA Shadow Ministerial Team
- Victoria Atkins MP – Shadow Secretary of State
- Robbie Moore MP – Shadow Minister of State
- Neil Hudson MP – Shadow Minister of State
- Lord Roborough – Shadow Minister of State
- Lord Blencathra – Shadow Minister of State
Department for Education Shadow Ministerial Team
- Laura Trott MP – Shadow Secretary of State
- Neil O’Brien MP – Shadow Minister of State
- Baroness Barran – Shadow Minister of State
BFC Executive Meetings
The BFC Executive met on 25 October to review the Plan for Growth draft, receive an update on the reforming of the APPFIG, and discuss ongoing issues within the industry – including flammability regulations, trade show support, the taskforce on the circular economy, the industrial strategy consultation, and the school curriculum consultation.
The BFC Executive also met on 12 December to review the latest version of the Plan for Growth document, discuss progress with reforming the APPFIG now that parliamentarians all four officer roles had been found and to discuss the new European General Product Safety Regulations (GPSR 2023).
Reforming the APPFIG
Excellent progress has been made to reform the APPFIG. We now have the four officers required. In addition to Adam Thompson MP, the newly elected Labour MP for Erewash, who has agreed to be nominated as the Group’s chair, we also have James Wild, Conservative MP for North West Norfolk – an important step in restarting the Group as all APPGs require at least one officer from the main opposition party. Jonathan Hindle also met Sarah Smith MP (Labour, Hyndburn) who has agreed to serve an officer; and Baroness Taylor of Bolton (Labour).
The next step is an inaugural meeting date of the Group where the Officers will be formally elected. This will then allow the Group to be re-registered and allow for meetings of the APPFIG to be held in 2025. Unfortunately this meeting has now been postponed twice due to Parliamentary business, but it is hoped that it will be held soon. More meetings with potential Members are planned. Members of the trade associations that are members of the BFC are being strongly encouraged to write to their local MPs to ask them to become a member of the APPFIG, attend meetings in Parliament, and support the work of the Group.
BFC Survey and a Plan for Growth
The Plan for Growth has now been drafted and is now being finalised using photographs supplied by the BFC Executive and the Public Affairs Advisory Committee. It is hoped to hold an event in Westminster to officially launch the publication of the Plan.
Autumn Budget 2024
On 30 October 2024, the Rt Hon Rachel Reeves MP announced the first budget of the new Labour Government. Key highlights of the budget include:
- Confirming funding for investment zones and free ports across the UK, including the approval of the East Midlands Investment Zone to support advanced manufacturing in green industries and the designation of five new custom sites in existing freeports.
- Increasing the rate of Employers’ National Insurance Contributions from 13.8 percent to 15 percent from 6 April 2025.
- Committing to freeze the Corporation Tax rate at 25 percent, the lowest in the G7, for the duration of this Parliament.
- Raising the National Living Wage to £12.21 per hour for all eligible employees, and the National Minimum Wage for 18–20-year-olds to £10.00 per hour for all eligible workers.
Following the announcements in the Budget, the BFC Executive expressed concern about the increases to employer national insurance contributions and changes to inheritance tax reliefs. The BFC is reaching out to MPs with high numbers of furniture industry businesses in their constituencies to highlight the industry’s concerns.
Letter to Mary Creagh CBE MP, the Minister for Nature, on the Circular Economy (CE)
The BFC Executive would like to ensure early involvement of the furniture sector in developing the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) and Digital Product Passport requirements. The Confederation has written to Mary Creagh CBE MP, the Minister for Nature, who has ministerial responsibility to outline the industry’s interest in getting actively involved at the earliest stages of policy development on Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and the forthcoming digital product passports under the ESPR. The BFC is keen to avoid a scenario where stakeholders are consulted only at the final stages of policy development.
Ongoing engagement with Government Departments
The BFC has continued to liaise with Civil Servants in the Department of Business and Trade to ensure that industry concerns and issues are brought to the immediate attention of government ministers. These have included labour shortages, flammability regulations, business rates relief, the future of skills and training, the cost of energy, increases in freight charges following recent events in the Red Sea, and supply chain challenges.
The BFC has submitted a response to the Government’s Industrial Strategy consultation, focusing on the importance of the industry for the UK economy, the increased demand expected in light of the Government’s housebuilding target, and the value that is placed on British-made furniture, furnishings, beds, and floorcoverings around the world.
Government Response on the Product Safety Review
The UK Government has published its response to the Product Safety Review on 5 November 2024. The consultation ran from 2 August 2023 to 24 October 2023 seeking evidence on the Government’s plans to develop a product safety regime that:
- Ensures business obligations are proportionate to the hazard presented by their products, exploring how to reduce compliance costs for lower risk products and make the conformity assessment process easier where possible.
- Shifts the balance between regulations and industry-led standards to enable a more agile and responsive regulatory framework, allowing business greater scope to innovate when producing safe products.
- Uses digital solutions, such as voluntary e-labelling, to reduce business costs and explore how digital options can be utilised to reduce burdens.
- Addresses concerns regarding the ease with which unsafe products can be sold online, creating a fairer playing field so that shopping online is as safe as on the high street.
- Enhances the leadership and coordination role of the Office for Product Safety and Standards alongside addressing identified enforcement gaps.
It is worth noting that Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations is referenced in the response.
Flammability Regulations
The Government published its long-awaited response to the 2023 review of the Furniture and Furnishings (Fire) (Safety) Regulations 1988 (amended 1989, 1993 and 2010) on 22 January 2025.
The next steps are as follows:
The Government recognises the important role specific regulations for domestic upholstered furniture fire safety play in keeping UK consumers safe and is committed to delivering reforms that maintain a high level of fire safety while facilitating a reduction in the use of chemical flame retardants.
In the coming months, we will work with stakeholders to refine a number of key proposals to ensure that new legislation delivers the intended outcomes for both consumers and businesses. Government will provide an update later this year, setting out the final position on the remaining issues highlighted in this document and a roadmap for implementing changes.
However, the Government will be taking immediate action to amend the FFRs based on evidence collected in consultation responses. Changes to the existing legislation will be made as soon as parliamentary time allows and will take effect six months later, in line with obligations under the UK’s World Trade Organisation commitments. The amendments are as follows:
- Remove certain baby and children’s products from scope of the FFRs, where evidence supports their removal from scope. This will reduce babies’ and children’s exposure to CFRs where the risk of exposure to potentially harmful chemicals is greater than the fire risk posed by those products. (A list of the products being removed from scope has been included at Annex A).
- Remove the requirement for manufacturers to affix a display label to new products, reflecting the limited value of the display label.
- Extend the time frame for instituting legal proceedings from 6 – 12 months, providing the right tools for effective enforcement.
The BFC will continue to engage with industry and government during this ongoing review process.