Policy briefing October 2023
06 October 2023
Dear BEAMA Members,
Energy policy continues to make headline news, and we are in an interesting scenario where on the one hand the Prime Minister is talking about details like grid connections, but on the other is reacting to the pressures of the political cycle and changing the outlook of decarbonisation by halting a number of framework policies. The changes announced by Rishi Sunak (summarised below) in September sent some into a bit of a tailspin. While in many areas the reversals have created additional challenges in developing our members’ markets, we will react with extra impetus and are starting an exciting campaign to keep key issues on the table and highlight the role that our industry plays in benefiting the environment and the economy. This will remain, whatever the political changes (and the policy landscape is of course always at the whim of the choice of timing for the next general election…)
You will note that for this edition of our policy briefing, we have decided to publish a single version where previously we have left some topics out where we deemed them not relevant to a sector. However, we have seen a greater level of cross-relevance in many policy areas and hope that an insight into other product areas will be useful in understanding the trajectory of electrification, circular economy and safety policy. For decarbonisation in particular, each of our sectors depend on and are influenced by progress in another.
We need a network capable of facilitating lower carbon energy generation, which improves the business case for electrified heat and transport solutions, but network investment is also dependent on the outlook for consumer-level technologies. We need flexibility to both improve the prospects of buildings technologies, but also to ease the pressure on networks. And buildings solutions will only work well if the electrical infrastructure in those buildings can cope with increase load from the grid and manage consumer-level technologies safely. We hope that this briefing will give you an insight into the wide range of factors across the policy landscape that affects your business, and we hope to encourage more collaboration between groups under the BEAMA umbrella.
As ever we hope this briefing in full or summary form helps you to navigate this challenging landscape, and that you are able to use the other resources we offer such as the BEAMA Issues Forum which is increasingly providing a vital platform for our members to keep track of policy development and their compliance obligations for an ever-changing landscape of regulation in the UK and EU.
Simon Harpin
Head of Policy
