Liz Truss must put UK at forefront of Green Industrial Revolution - Beckie Hart

Spiralling energy prices, a mounting cost-of-living crisis, war in Ukraine,

an urgent climate emergency and a summer of strikes – all big problems requiring bold and immediate action.

It is vital that new PM Liz Truss hits the ground running with clear ambitions and actions for tackling these crises head-on. And at the top of that daunting list of priorities has to be the costs squeeze forcing many households and businesses to the brink.

The huge spike in the energy price cap – with worse expected to follow – is threatening to force millions of people into fuel poverty. Government support up to now has rightly been focused on the most vulnerable, but it is clear that more is needed.

Does that mean financial help? In some form, yes. But it is a problem that needs a broader answer too, which means a national energy efficiency programme to reduce consumption.

Lessening the burden on business will be needed as well, with many otherwise-viable Yorkshire firms – and their supply chains – now reaching a tipping point. Tip too far the wrong way, and they could easily fall into distress.

The CBI proposes utilising mechanisms like the Energy Bills Support Scheme to urgently introduce targeted interventions for the most vulnerable households, while instructing HMRC to replicate Time to Pay flexibility granted during the pandemic to businesses.

We also suggest a business rates freeze until 2024 to ease financial pressures, and rolling out an ambitious ECO+ programme, which offers upfront financial support to retrofit household insulation.

Our proposals would target help where it is needed most, cut costs, and kick-start an energy efficiency drive that reduces demand and boosts the UK’s energy security.

Together, these measures can help to insulate the most vulnerable against the worst extremes of the energy price crisis, while unleashing business to get back to doing what it does best – driving growth, innovation and progress.

Easing cashflow headaches in this way would ensure more businesses survive – while pairing them with other pro-business initiatives can also lay the foundations for the future economic growth so vital to the UK’s long-term ambitions.

Cutting approval times for new offshore wind farms from four years to one and clarifying the status of key projects – many of them crucial to levelling-up aspirations in the Humber and elsewhere – can create opportunities and prosperity.

Broader energy market reform will be on the agenda too, with an Energy Bill to progress through Parliament. Businesses will hope for a programme centred on how Britain can reap the economic benefits of decarbonisation.

Getting it right can help position the UK at the forefront of the Green Industrial Revolution, paving the way for a new generation of highly skilled jobs, new export opportunities, and up to £60bn of gross value added to the UK economy by 2050.

On the surface, the asks to support business might look big, but the cost of inaction could be far greater. Act now, in a limited, targeted way, and we can avoid turning a short-term crunch into a longer-term crisis. It’s time to bet on business – it’s our best hope to turn things round for everyone.

Beckie Hart is CBI regional director for Yorkshire and Humber