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Vuelio’s Thomas Stevenson summarises the key announcements in Nicola Sturgeon’s latest ‘Programme for Government’ published this week. It kicks off a crucially important period in Holyrood politics, in the run-up to the Scottish Parliament elections next year, the result of which could decide if there is another Scottish independence referendum or not.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon delivered her latest Programme for Government on Tuesday 1 September. Entitled ‘Protecting Scotland, Renewing Scotland’, it sets out the actions the Scottish Government will be taking in the next year, ahead of the elections to the Scottish Parliament in May 2021.

As Sturgeon said in her speech: ‘This is not a normal, business as usual, Programme for Government’. Some measures announced, such as the new proximity tracking app, ‘Protect Scotland’, are aimed at minimising the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic going forward. Others, such as some of those for schools and the NHS, are aimed at restoring services which have been disrupted by the pandemic.

Another category of measure includes those aimed at taking advantage of changes in behaviour forced by the current situation, such as improving homelessness services and the use of digital technology in healthcare. Many measures, however, are focused on delivering a recovery from the COVID-19 crisis. These include those aimed at delivering employment, such as the National Transitional Training Fund and the Green Jobs Fund, the £500m to be allocated to active travel, and measures to deliver a net zero economy and zero carbon housing.

Sturgeon also confirmed that, before the end of the Parliament, a draft Bill would be published on a new independence referendum. It would set out the terms, timing and question wording to be used by such a referendum.

The Vuelio political team has summarised the announcements made and confirmed in the Programme for Government below, under the three sub-sections it uses.

A National Mission to Create New Jobs, Good Jobs and Green Jobs

Employment and Skills:

• A £60m Youth Guarantee, giving all 16-24-year-olds an opportunity to study at university or college, take up an apprenticeship, job or work experience opportunity, or take part in a volunteering or training programme. This will be supported by an investment of up to £10m in Developing the Young Workforce (DYW) Regional Groups and £10m for up to 8500 people to complete or start an apprenticeship.
• A £100m package of support for those looking for work or at risk of redundancy because of COVID-19. This includes a £25m National Transition Training Fund to support up to 10,000 people, doubling funding for the Flexible Workforce Development Fund to £20m and working with interested parties to ensure training provision is more targeted.
• A £100m Green Jobs fund will be created over the next five years.
• Nature and land-based apprenticeship schemes in public agencies will be expanded, including doubling the commitments to young people by Scottish Forestry, Forestry and Land Scotland and NatureScot.
• A Green Workforce and Skills Development package will be developed, based on analysis by NatureScot of the nature-based jobs needed for the net-zero transition.
• The Scottish Government will work with employers to expand the real Living Wage, will put an additional £2.35m in the Parental Employability Support Fund, and extend Fair Start Scotland services for disabled people until March 2023.
• As part of the ‘No One Left Behind’ agenda to support those who face significant barriers to employment, a Shared Measurement Framework for collecting data, a Customer Charter and National Standards Guarantee will be produced. A recruitment toolkit to increase ethnic minority recruitment will be published in September and actions from the ‘Fairer Scotland for Women: Gender Pay Gap Action Plan’ will be reviewed.
• TimeWise will develop a ‘fair, flexible work programme’ by the end of March 21, supporting 300 employers to adapt to flexible working and recruiting advisers to help 1000 more employers and 1000 individuals. The scope for a new centre for workplace transformation will be assessed, while the Productivity Club Pilots are to be expanded, growing from two to five.

Digital:

• A national network of ‘Tech Scalers’ (start-up incubators) is to be established.
• A public-private Ecosystem Fund to make strategic investments will be created.
• The Digital Action Plan is to be updated to accelerate the transformation of digital public services.
• A Digital Strategy for Planning will be published in November
• An additional £23m is to be committed to provide a digital and data safety net to digitally-excluded people and households.

Heat:

• £1.6bn is being invested in heat and energy efficiency programmes, with an aim of increasing renewable heat installations from 2000 in 2020 to 64,000 in 2025. A new funding call for the £50m Green Recovery Low Carbon Infrastructure Transition Programme for low carbon and renewable heat projects will open in September, and at least £95m will be invested in decarbonising the public sector estate.
• A draft Heat Policy Statement and refreshed Energy Efficient Scotland Route Map will be published by the end of the year, with an expert group established to make recommendations for a heat pump sector deal.
• A consultation will be launched on requiring new buildings to use renewable or low emission heat from 2024.

Green Investment and Businesses:

• A £3bn Green Investment Portfolio will be launched to secure global investment in Scotland.
• £60m will be invested in supporting the industrial and manufacturing sectors through the green recovery, via a £24m Scottish Industrial Energy Transformation Fund and a £26m Low Carbon Manufacturing Challenge Fund.
• A Grangemouth Future Industry Board will be established, recognising the area’s economic importance and its contribution towards Scotland’s emissions.

Energy:

• Carbon capture, usage and storage (CCUS) will be supported and research commissioned. Working with North East CCUS, a Scottish Net Zero Roadmap will be worked on in 2021. A consultation will take place on a £5m Carbon Capture and Utilisation Challenge Fund.
• A refreshed Energy Strategy and updated Offshore Wind Policy Statement will be published.
• £6.9m will be allocated to Scotia Gas Network’s H100 hydrogen heating project in Fife, and a Hydrogen policy Statement and Hydrogen Action Plan will be produced.

Sustainable Recovery:

• A Scottish Health and Industry Partnership is to be established, and Supply Chain Development Programmes will be rolled out in key economic sectors.
• The Scottish Government will use its buying influence to establish a zero emission heavy duty vehicle programme, establish a zero emission drivechain testing facility and support research and development in zero emission mobility. It will also produce tools to use procurement to support a green recovery.

Environment and Agriculture:

• £100m will be invested in increasing new planting by Scottish Forestry, with £30m for Forestry and Land Scotland to expand forests and land. £20m will be invested in increasing tree nursery capacity.
• The Scottish Land Commission will produce advice on factoring land into economic thinking.
• The rate of peatland restoration will be increased.
• The Biodiversity Challenge Fund will have £3m in 202-21 and a high-level statement of intent on biodiversity will be published by the end of the year.
• Recommendations will be made on new agricultural support mechanisms.
• The Scottish Land Matching Service will be extended to bring vacant crofts into use.
• The third Land Use Strategy will be published
• Work will take place to establish a statutory national Nitrogen Balance Sheet.
• A joint recovery plan for the food and drink industry will be launched, and a new agriculture producer organisations created.
• A Blue Economy Action Plan will be developed.
• A £70m fund to improve local authority waste collection infrastructure will be established, and the Household Recycling Charter will be evaluated.
• The Scottish Government will work with local authorities and deposit return scheme administrators to unlock investment in reprocessing.
• The carrier bag charge will be increased from 5p to 10p, a consultation will be launched on banning some plastic items, and charging for single-use beverage cups.
• Public bodies will be required to set a date for becoming net-zero emitters.
• The first meeting of a citizens’ assembly on climate change will take place in the autumn.
• Regional hubs will allow communities to develop local solutions to reach net-zero, with a network of Climate Action Towns.
• An extra £150m will be invested in flood risk management and £12m in coastal change adaptation.

Trade, Investment and Migration:

• By the end of 2020, the Scottish Government will publish its vision for trade and ‘A Trading Nation’ (the export growth plan) will be refreshed in 2021.
• An inward investment plan (‘Shaping Scotland’s Economy’) will be published this year, with a capital investment plan to follow in 2021
• A Population Strategy will be published in 2021, the Stay in Scotland campaign for those in the EU Settlement Scheme will be maintained and a Welcome to Scotland resource for migrants will be launched.
• Proposals for a rural migration pilot will be developed and published.
• £2m of the International Development Fund will be ringfenced for COVID-19 efforts this year.

Local Economies, Third Sector and Social Enterprise:

• Local community wealth building action plans will be developed for five more areas.
• Funding will be provided for a new Scottish Land Fund.
• £1m more will be given to the Scotland Loves Local campaign.
• Part of the Communities Fund will become a £25m Community and Third Sector Recovery Programme. Other social investment, such as capital loans, will be explored.
• A new Social Enterprise Action Plan and new Credit Union Strategy will be launched.
• The process of revising Charity Law will be restarted.
• A £2m Green Recovery Programme for the islands will be established.

 

Promoting Lifelong Health and Wellbeing

COVID-19:

• A proximity app to identify COVID-19 contacts, ‘Protect Scotland’, will launch this month.
• Seasonal flu vaccination will be extended to social care workers, those aged 55 and older, those in a household where someone is shielding, and those aged 50 and over (depending on supplies).
• There will be a Framework for Rehabilitation and Recovery and Respiratory Care Action Plan for Scotland.
• Actions will be taken based on the recommendations of the Expert Reference Group on COVID-19 and Ethnicity.

Healthcare:

• More elective capacity will be provided by the National Elective Centre Programme.
• A Women’s Health Plan will be developed.
• A new national body on infection prevention and control will be established in spring 2021.
• A national cancer recovery plan will be published in the autumn. A new lung cancer awareness campaign will be launched as part of the ‘Detect Cancer Early’ programme.
• A Recovery Framework for Pain Management Services and a Framework for Chronic Pain Service Delivery will be published.
• The digital health and care strategy will be refreshed, and a data strategy for health and social care created.
• ‘Near Me’ video consultations will be made the default option, with an aim for all appropriate consultations to be provided via this service or telephone, with its use in social care also developed.
• A digital monitoring solution for COVID-19 suffers will be rolled-out.
• Digital cognitive behavioural therapy services will be expanded and developed.
• A&E services are to be redesigned, encouraging people to be assessed by phone first.
• Community health services are to be bolstered.
• More clinical conditions will be added to the Pharmacy First service, more community link workers will be recruited, and more mental health workers will be recruited.
• NHS dental and eye care service reforms will be accelerated.

Social Care:

• An independent review of adult social care is being launched immediately, reporting by January 2021, and recommending improvements to services. A number of immediate improvements will also be made.
• The capacity of services to support carers will be increased, with £11.6m to implement the Carers (Scotland) Act.

Health and Social Care Staff:

• The Scottish Government is working with unions on a timetable for 2021-22 pay deal.
• A national race equality network with annual targets will be established.
• £5m will be provided for a Health and Social Care Mental Health Network and to expand digital resources for staff. Additional funding will be given to provide therapeutic intervention for staff, with a Workforce Specialist Service
• A Patient Safety Commissioner will be established.

Improving Health:

• A targeted approach will be taken to improve healthy eating for those on low incomes, with legislation on Restricting Food Promotions, and work to increase participation in physical activity, including social prescribing.
• A Recovery Framework for Sexual Health and Blood Borne Viruses will be developed.
• The Scottish Government will consult on drug law reform to make temporary arrangements for Naloxone distribution to people at risk of opioid overdose permanent.
• There will be a consultation on restricting alcohol and e-cigarette promotion, restricting e-cigarettes and removing smoking from outside hospitals.
• A Mental Health Transition and Recovery Plan will be published.
• The National Trauma Training Programme will be expanded for two more years.
• Action on women and girls’ mental health will be taken, working with women’s organisations.
• The Distress Brief Intervention will be extended for a transitional period to 2024.
• Mental Health Assessment Centres will be retained and developed.
• A new suicide public awareness campaign is to be launched.
• A number of measures will be taken to support children and young people, including digital support and provision of school counsellors.
• A recovery plan and programme for mental health services will be developed.
• A Personality Disorder Managed Network will be established and a Brain Health and Dementia Prevention Strategy will be published.

Promoting Equality and Helping Our Young People Grasp Their Potential

Benefits and Debt:

• The Scottish Child Payment will be introduced, paying £10 a week for each eligible child, starting with children under 6. Applications will start in November 2020, with the first payments for those eligible will be made from February 2021.
• Payments of Child Winter Heating Assistance will start this winter.
• £2.4m is being made available for debt advice.
• The Scottish Government will work to promote affordable credit.

Childcare:

• The Best Start programme will transform maternity and neonatal services.
• COVID-19 led to the Scottish Government missing its childcare commitments; it will now work to set a date for full implementation by the end of the year.
• A framework for school age childcare will be delivered.

Schools:

• £50m is being given to local authorities in order to help deliver a safe return to school.
• £30m is being invested to provide laptops to disadvantaged children.
• Guidance will be produced on pandemic-related issues, including remote learning and prioritising the curriculum during the recovery period.
• An Equality Audit will assess the impact of the pandemic on children from disadvantaged backgrounds.
• The recommendations of Angela Morgan’s independent review of additional support for learning will be implemented.
• A new mental heath training and learning resources for all school staff will be delivered.
• £3m will be allocated to a Youth Work for Education Recovery Fund.
• In additional to the independent review into the awarding of qualifications this year, another review will take place of the broader assessment approach in Scotland.
• A second phase of new schools projects will be announced as part of a £1bn Learning Estate Investment Programme.

Higher Education:

• The Scottish Government will continue to work to implement the recommendations of the Independent Commission on Widening Access, and to develop a School Engagement Framework.
• A student income and expenditure survey will be carried out.
• A lifelong learning strategy to integrate youth and adult learning into the wider education and skills system will be developed.

Children:

• £4m is being invested in the Promise Partnership for holistic family support
• Kinship carers will be better supported, the recovery plan for the Children’s Hearing System will be implemented, and revised National Guidance for Child Protection will be published.
• A redress scheme for historical child abuse in residential care will be legislated for.
• A new Bill will incorporate the UN Convention on the Rights of Children into Scots law.

Housing:

• The Housing to 2040 Vision and Principles and Route Map are to be published later this year.
• An accord will be agreed between the Scottish Government and the construction industry.
• The quality of Scottish Government grant-funded homes will be improved, with guidance on the use of offsite construction, outdoor and home working space, and digitally enabled social housing.
• The current hosing adaptation system will be reviewed.
• The use of night shelter and dormitory provision for the homeless should end and be replaced with Rapid Rehousing Welcome Centres. A six-month pilot project to provide settled accommodation for those currently living in Edinburgh hotels will be funded.
• An updated Ending Homelessness Together Action Plan will be published
• Guidance on discretionary housing payments will be strengthened, and funding will be increased by £3m.
• A £10m Tenant Hardship Loan Fund will be established legislation preventing evictions will be extended for up to six months.
• Homelessness prevention pathways will be implemented and the requirement for those facing homelessness to have a local connection will be removed.
• A review of purpose-built student accommodation will take place.
• Local authorities will be given powers to license short-term lets and introduce control areas.

Equality and Human Rights:

• An equality and human rights mainstreaming strategy will be developed.
• The First Minister’s National Taskforce for Human Rights Leadership will work on incorporating the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women into legislation and consider incorporating the UN Convention on the Rights of Disabled People and the UN Convention on Racial Discrimination.
• Funding for the Scottish Human Rights Defenders Fellowship will be increased.
• Access to free period products will be enshrined into law.
• A £13m Delivering Equally Safe Fund will support prevention and early intervention for women and children at risk of violence and abuse.
• A review of past and present initiatives to tackle systemic racism will take place.
• The Scottish Government will work with local authorities to make sure local housing strategies reflect challenges faced by minority ethnic communities.
• An independent expert group will make recommendations on reflecting Scotland’s colonial and slavery history in museums and society.
• A Minority Ethnic Leadership and Development Programme will be established.
• An anti-destitution strategy will be published to support those affected by no recourse to public funds.

Transport and Planning:

• The Scottish Government will promote the idea of the ’20-minute neighbourhood’.
• The Town Centre Action Plan is being reviewed.
• Through a Place Based Investment Programme, £275m will be invested in community-led regeneration. The Empowering Communities Programme will strengthen community anchor organisations and create more shared space local working hubs.
• £500m over five years is to be committed to active travel.
• Local authorities will be able to turn temporary infrastructure projects implemented during the pandemic into permanent schemes.
• Engagement on the future of transport will take place with young people and work has begun to deliver free bus travel for under-19s.
• Scotland’s Road Safety Framework to 2030 will be published.
• Work will take place to introduce more low emission zones and a new air quality strategy will be consulted on.

Justice:

• The Scottish Government will work with stakeholders to tackle the backlog of court cases caused by COVID-19.
• Action will be taken to support the use of community interventions rather than short sentences.
• The prison estate will be modernised, with replacements for HMP Barlinnie and HMP inverness, and a new female custodial estate.
• The recommendations of Lady Dorrian’s Review of the management of sexual offences will be considered.
• The Fireworks Action Plan will be taken forward, with a public awareness campaign before bonfire night, and tighter legislation on fireworks considered.
• Further consultation on dangerous dogs will take place.

Legislative Programme

The following new bills are to be introduced in the forthcoming parliamentary year:

• Budget Bill
• Domestic Abuse Bill
• The UNCRC (Incorporation) Bill
• University of St. Andrews (Degrees in Medicine and Dentistry) Bill

The following existing bills will be progressed in the forthcoming parliamentary year:

• Defamation and Malicious Publication Bill
• Forensic Medical Services (Victims of Sexual Offences) Bill
• Hate Crime and Public Order Bill
• Heat Networks Bill
• Redress for Survivors (Historical Child Abuse in Care) Bill
• Social Security Administration and Tribunal Membership Bill
• UK Withdrawal from the European Union (Continuity) Bill

In this series, we’re exploring how different sectors may be impacted by autumn policy announcements and how you can prepare for a period without physical party conferences.

The Government’s ambition for an ‘infrastructure revolution’ – set out in the 2019 Conservative manifesto – was reaffirmed in the March 2020 Budget, with investment commitments reaching £600bn. This infrastructure revolution is key to the Government’s ‘levelling up’ agenda, aiming to address regional inequalities across the country. As we move into the recovery phase post Covid and adapt to a future outside of the European Union, investment in infrastructure will play a fundamental role in securing the UK’s future prosperity. 

Active travel
The lockdown has demonstrated that many parts of the workforce can efficiently operate remotely, and that the traditional 9 to 5 spent entirely in the office is no longer necessary. Meanwhile, the levels of people walking and cycling have increased dramatically. In response to these changes, the Government has announced the £2bn of investment to put cycling and walking ‘at the heart’ of the UK’s post-Covid transport plan, with a new body – Active Travel England – to oversee how the money is spent.  

New National Infrastructure and Construction Procurement Pipeline 
In an attempt to provide short to medium term certainty for the construction industry, the Infrastructure and Projects Authority has published a reviewed National Infrastructure and Construction Pipeline, setting out contracts planned for 2020/21. The pipeline is made up of 340 procurement contracts over 260 projects, with a value between £29bn and £37bn – a broad range of works spanning across building, design and civil engineering contracts; repair and maintenance services; architectural, construction, engineering and inspection services; and consultancy services. 

National Infrastructure Strategy
The National Infrastructure Strategy is the Government’s response to the National Infrastructure Assessment that was published by the National Infrastructure Commission – the Government’s advisory board – in July 2018. The Strategy aims to provide a 30 year plan for infrastructure, including funding projections for transport, local growth and digital infrastructure. It was expected initially last December 2019 and then March 2020, before the Government announced it was another 19 months late. 

Transport Decarbonisation Plan
Reducing the infrastructure sector’s carbon footprint and ensuring that the sector plays its part in delivering net-zero emissions by 2050 will shape all major infrastructure investment decisions going forward. In March the Department for Transport published a policy paper on creating the decarbonisation plan for transport, detailing what the Government, business and society will need to do to deliver the significant emissions reduction needed across all modes of transport. The plan is scheduled to be published later this year. 

Infrastructure levy
The long-awaited planning white paper was published by the Government earlier this month, proposing sweeping changes to the current planning system. One of the proposals is that developer contributions, in the form of Section 106 agreements and the Community Infrastructure Levy, are to be replaced with a new Infrastructure Levy. This levy will be a fixed proportion of the value of the development, above a set threshold. Local authorities will be able to borrow against Infrastructure Levy revenues to forward fund infrastructure and speed up delivery. Revenues from the levy would be spent locally on economic and social infrastructure projects such as new roads, community amenities and discounted homes for local, first-time buyers. 

Freeports
As part of plans to level up opportunity across the UK post Brexit, the Government has announced its intention to build ten freeports across the UK. The Government was collecting views on the proposals until 13 July and is now preparing a response. Airports as well as maritime ports across the UK will be invited to bid.

 

The links between the coronavirus crisis and the energy industry might not seem immediately obvious and, at first glance, MPs might be forgiven for thinking they have more important concerns when they return to Westminster next week. However, it is clear that the economic damage being done to the country by the pandemic poses real opportunities for the energy sector, and for tackling climate change. As activists argue, this crisis really does pose an opportunity to deliver a ‘green recovery’ and to ‘build back better’.  

We saw the first signs of this being delivered in Rishi Sunak’s Summer Statement and ‘Plan for Jobs’, which included £3bn for a range of energy efficiency measures, including the Green Homes Grant. However, while welcomed by campaigners and businesses, these are all short-term programmes, rather than the long-term strategic investments and plans which it is generally agreed are needed. The industry will therefore be keeping its ear to the ground ahead of the Budget promised for later this year, which should hopefully put some flesh on the bones of the Government’s target of reaching net zero by 2050. 

In terms of specific actions, there are a number of policies and strategies whose publication would help to give businesses and investors the confidence in the UK’s future direction which they need to unlock private sector activity and funding; many of which have been long-promised and much-delayed. These include the National Infrastructure Strategy, Energy White Paper, Low Carbon Heat Strategy and the Transport Decarbonisation Plan. Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Secretary Alok Sharma has indicated that we can expect at least some of these to emerge later this year. The process of agreeing these documents will, however, involve making choices, and this will inevitably mean that there are both winners and losers. 

At the moment many technologies – some established, some new – are vying for Government attention and spending. Consider, for example, the issues of new nuclear, hydrogen or wave energy, or the challenges associated with decarbonising heating, transport and energy-intensive industries. It’s clear that ministers do not have easy decisions to make – but make them they must. They could make the UK a successful pioneer, able to export newly developed technologies, skills and expertise around the globe; alternatively, they could back the wrong horse and find the country landed with costly, ineffective technology while other nations overtake it. For all the focus on creating new, green jobs, there also needs to be consideration of how best to reuse the undoubted skills and knowledge of those employed in older industries, such as oil and gas, and how to support the areas which have prospered on the back of these to ensure a just transition. 

All this doesn’t even consider the end consumer either. Shifting away from fossil fuel technologies will cost money, at least in the short-term. With many people feeling the impact of the COVID-19 induced downturn in their wallet, the Government will be under pressure to shield people not just from the medical impact of the virus, but from suffering a financial hit, and to prevent a rise in unemployment, leading to a rise in fuel poverty.  

It isn’t just the Government the energy and utilities sector should be keeping an eye on either. While the threat of imminent nationalisation disappeared along with Labour’s hopes at the 2019 general election, the policy is undoubtably popular among the party’s grassroots membership. The appointment by Sir Keir Starmer of former leader Ed Miliband to the post of Shadow Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Secretary shows the importance which the party places on the sector. Miliband is no stranger to the energy industry – he was Energy and Climate Change Secretary in the last Labour government and has maintained an interest ever since. As he settles into the role and focus returns to the longer-term, expect Miliband to be pushing the Government to be more ambitious. 

It may also be worth monitoring the Liberal Democrats – Sir Ed Davey, their acting leader and the bookies’ favoured candidate to win the leadership election (which ends today), also held the Energy and Climate Change portfolio during the Coalition government and has focused heavily on the area. It’s clear that the Government faces a heavyweight opposition which is well-equipped to spot failings and to set out an alternative vision. 

It’s clear that energy is an area where the Government will face some tough choices in the next few months, yet alone years. 

In this series, we’re exploring how different sectors may be impacted by autumn policy announcements and how you can prepare for a period without physical party conferences.

Autumn will be a waiting game for the pharmaceutical industry. With the end of the EU transition period fast approaching, the sector is closely watching emerging trade deals with Europe and the US develop, whilst the future level of cooperation with the EU on life sciences is still unclear. On top of this, coronavirus has sent the health sector into flux, with hopes pinned on approving a vaccine or effective treatment soon.   

Brexit and Trade
Brexit will be critical to the pharmaceutical sector amid developing trade deals and fears about future medical supply, while emerging regulatory gaps drive legislation through Parliament. Britain laid out its approach to negotiations with the EU in February where it advocated for zero tariffs and unrestrictive regulatory standards, the recognition of Good Manufacturing Practice and cooperation on data sharing, clinical trial infrastructure, and on processes surrounding patient safety in medical device development.

Responding to the negotiation strategy, the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry said: ‘The Government has set out a vision for a future relationship where both sides can work together in the interest of patient safety, public health, and the pursuit of scientific progress for UK and EU citizens. As negotiations get underway, we urge ambition and pragmatism to achieve these goals.’

However, with post Brexit trade talks under strain and limited by a tight time pressure, the threat of a no deal Brexit at the end of the year still looms. Furthermore, fears over the future medical supply have been compounded by warnings from the pharmaceutical industry, which raised concern earlier this year that the medical stockpile had to be used up ‘almost entirely’ by the coronavirus response. As a result, in its contingency planning, the Government has called on medicine suppliers to ‘buffer stocks of medical supplies where possible’, calling for companies to have at least six weeks’ total stock on UK soil.

Medicines and Medical Devices Bill
The Medicines and Medical Devices Bill is expected to pass into law this Autumn. The Bill, which covers human medicines, veterinary medicines and medical devices legislation, aims to address the regulatory gap in regulation after the UK concludes its transition period, having left the European Union. Announcing the legislation Health Secretary Matt Hancock said: ‘Now that we have left the European Union, we need a regulatory system that is nimble enough to keep up with those developments while maintaining and enhancing patient safety.’

Under the new legislation, the Government will have greater powers on the sector’s law including on the manufacture, marketing and supply of human medicines, clinical trials and the charging of fees in relation human medicines provision. The Government has indicated that it will use the powers to support the development of new medicines and medical devices while removing ‘unnecessary bureaucracy’ for the lowest risk clinical trials. In a briefing, the British Medical Association raised concern over the increased legislative power the Government will hold under the new Bill, calling for patient safety to be considered ‘first and foremost’ in future regulation and in market standards. The Bill ran through its committee stage in the House of Commons in June, with no major amendments, though the Government has since proposed a new UK registry for medical devices. It will have its Second Reading in the House of Lords on 2 September.

Coronavirus therapeutics and vaccines
Since the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak, many pharmaceutical companies have been on alert to deliver a vaccine or a therapeutic drug to aid the Covid-19 response. The Government set up a Vaccine Task force in April, which is now chaired by Kate Bingham, to accelerate the development of a safe and effective vaccine. Though no vaccines have yet been approved, Bingham told the Science and Technology Committee in July that the Taskforce has invested in clinical trials and vaccine manufacturing and is supporting a portfolio of emerging vaccines potentials, including the Oxford University/AstraZeneca vaccine, which is ahead of others in the clinical trial process.

In addition, the Randomised Evaluation of COVID-19 Therapy (RECOVERY) trial, also set up in April, evaluates potential coronavirus treatments from drugs already in the market in the largest clinical trial of its kind. Dexamethasone, an anti-inflammatory drug, was authorised as a Covid-19 treatment as a result of the trial, as it was found to significantly reduce the risk of death among coronavirus patients requiring oxygen.

In this series, we’re exploring how different sectors may be impacted by autumn policy announcements and how you can prepare for a period without physical party conferences.

When MPs and peers return to Westminster next month, one of the most prominent issues they’ll face is the environment, with the Government echoing the rhetoric of campaigners who have been calling for a ‘green recovery’ and for the UK to ‘build back better’ from the coronavirus crisis. They will also have to vote on the three key bills to create a post-Brexit environmental framework, consider the implications of new trade deals, and prepare for the UN climate change conference COP26, which the UK will be hosting next year.

Building back better
Announcing a £350m decarbonisation package at the end of July, Boris Johnson said ‘our green ambitions remain sky high as we build back better for both our people and our planet’. This aspiration was also set out in Rishi Sunak’s summer economic statement as part of the Government’s ‘Plan for Jobs’. He said that the Government wanted ‘a green recovery with concern for our environment at its heart’ and announced a £3bn plan to create green jobs, including the Green Homes Grant to improve domestic energy efficiency. This, of course, is in addition the Government’s need to explain how it will meet the target set under Theresa May of reaching net zero emissions by 2050.

As environmental campaigners have repeatedly pointed out, delivering a green recovery and attaining net zero requires more than just warm words, targets and isolated programmes, welcome though these are. For this reason, all eyes will be on the Budget Sunak is expected to deliver in the autumn. In order to drive private sector investment, the Government will need to give a clear steer on its direction of travel and give investors confidence that the UK is on a secure, long-term pathway to net zero, covering all of its activity.

It has a variety of tools at its disposal to achieve this. For example, the long-promised National Infrastructure Strategy, Energy White Paper and Low Carbon Heat Strategy are all now expected to be published in the autumn, alongside the Comprehensive Spending Review and an interim report from the Net Zero Review. Together, these could create a framework for a greener, more environmentally friendly post-Covid future. However, environmentalists will be concerned that the Government’s ‘build, build, build’ mantra could result in incoherent policy, with Johnson claiming in a speech that ‘newt-counting’ was delaying house-building, even as he asserted that the UK would ‘build back greener’.

Taking back (environmental) control
As we get closer to Parliament sitting again and to the end of the Brexit transition, those of us who focus on the environment will be on the lookout for details of the return of the three key bills which will define our post-Brexit environmental framework: the Environment Bill, the Agriculture Bill, and the Fisheries Bill. So far, the only one of these to appear on the parliamentary calendar is the Fisheries Bill, which will have its second reading on the first day that the Commons returns – 1 September.

Even as the bills progress through Parliament, there is plenty to be done to ensure that they can actually be implemented and many details that need to be fleshed out. For example, the Environment Bill will create a new environmental regulator, the Office for Environmental Protection and recruitment for its chair started earlier this month. Another example is the Environmental Land Management scheme being created through the Agriculture Bill, with more details on this promised by the autumn. The Environment Bill also contains a range of measures targeted at reducing waste and boosting recycling, including a deposit return scheme, extended producer responsibility for packaging, and consistency in waste and recycling collections. These all await further consultation to agree their details before they can be implemented.

Appearing before the Environmental Audit Committee in June, George Eustice, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, told MPs that his priority ‘across all fronts, whether it is agriculture, fishing or our environment, is to demonstrate that we can chart a different course and do things better than the European Union’. The next few months will give us a good indication of how the Government’s actions match this rhetoric.

Trade deal or no deal?
The environment – and agriculture in particular – has taken a prominent role in discussion of the UK’s post-Brexit trading future. Concerns about the implications of a trade deal with the USA for the country’s food, environmental and animal welfare standards have proven to be a flashpoint, even within the ranks of the Conservative Party.

An amendment to the Agriculture Bill seeking to ensure that the UK wouldn’t agree trade agreements allowing the import into the UK of food which didn’t at least meet the UK’s standards was tabled by the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee Chair Neil Parish, a Conservative MP. This was rejected, but in light of the concerns the Government launched a Trade and Agriculture Commission in July to advise on its policy on this topic, with a report expected after six months. With suggestions that time is running out for a deal to be agreed before the American presidential election in the autumn, this is a key area to keep an eye on.

The proposed trade deal between the UK and Japan also seems to have run into agriculture-related problems, with International Trade Secretary Liz Truss reportedly holding out for better terms on British blue cheeses, such as Stilton. Perhaps more seriously, European Union chief negotiator Michel Barnier said last month that the UK’s position on fisheries in negotiations on the post-Brexit relationship with the bloc was ‘simply unacceptable’ and ‘makes a trade agreement at this point unlikely’. All these are issues which will continue to develop in the autumn, and in years to come, as the UK tries to establish its position now it has left the EU.

Delivering global change
It’s important to remember that climate change is ultimately a global concern which needs coordinated international action – no matter how good the UK’s policies might be, the planet’s current trajectory cannot be altered unilaterally. One of the events which fell foul of COVID-19 was COP26, the UN’s climate change conference, which was due to be hosted in Glasgow this year. The event has now been postponed to 2021, and environmental organisations will be keeping a beady eye on what Alok Sharma, who is both COP26 President and Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Secretary, has been doing to ensure that the conference is regarded as a success in challenging the climate crisis, rather than a missed opportunity.

A crucial moment
One of the few upsides of the current pandemic is that it allows for some thought about things we might want to change as we start the process of recovery, while Brexit allows a similar opportunity for thinking about future environmental, agricultural, fisheries and trade policy. However, there are also significant risks involved – will the Government’s planning reforms negate the ‘green recovery’? Will the UK’s new environmental framework deliver the improvements the Government claims? The next few months will give us some clarity on the UK’s future trajectory.