FDF’s Autumn Statement Submission

Overview of the Recommendations:

Boost productivity, create higher skilled, better paid jobs and drive R&D investment

1. Target financial incentives to increase the uptake of robotics, automation and digital technologies in food and drink
2. Reform the Apprenticeship Levy to allow use of levy funds on shorter, modular training. To wider Apprenticeship participation, remove the functional English and Maths skills requirement.
3. Make the 100% first year capital allowance (full expensing) permanent.
4. Broaden the eligibility criteria and accessibility of R&D tax credits and grants to incentivise healthier product innovation.
5. Establish a UK-wide Reformulation for Health Programme.
6. Create a permissive sample import system to attract R&D investment.

Deliver an internationally competitive business environment to drive investment

1. Work with industry to develop evidence-based, effective initiatives that will genuinely shift the dial on obesity and poor diets.
2. Do not introduce new food and drink taxes that hurt consumers, but find alternative ways to drive innovation in reformulation.
3. Work with industry to deliver a world-leading Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme.
4. Set out a timeframe for implementing consistent collections in England (with equivalent policies in the Devolved Nations) by October 2025, including plastic films collections by no later than March 2027.
5. HMRC to allow mass balance accounting to unlock investment in chemical recycling.
6. Make ‘not for EU’ labelling optional in Great Britain rather than mandatory.
7. Work with us to set up a dedicated UK trade information portal to support SMEs.
8. Deliver the UK’s Single Trade Window (STW) in a timely manner, using international best practice.

Creating a Sustainable Food System

1. Develop a successor scheme to the Energy Bills Discount Scheme from April 2024 with targeted support for food and drink manufacturers.
2. UK Deposit Return Scheme (DRS) must go ahead as soon as practically possible with alignment on scope and date across UK.
3. Expediate the consultation on the future phase on the Climate Change Agreements and include decarbonisation in future targets.
4. Simplify the application process and increase the budget of the third phase of the Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF).