This week we would also like to share with you the following updates: (In the TA update, please note the change in fire regulations on 1st October which would also effect event venues)
- UKEVENTS press release – UKEVENTS discuss industry in detail with Minister. Read here.
- Events Apprenticeships Newsletter (Issue 8). Read here.
- NOEA News – Event Medical Association Launches at The Showman’s Show. Read here.
- EIF News – EIF invites applications for grants. Read here.
- New ban on some single-use plastic items – EIF Briefing Note on single use plastics and polystyrene (see attached) | TIC Update from Defra (see below).
- TIC Update – DBT Call for Evidence on Package Travel Regulations (closing on 13 December 2023). See below.
- TA Weekly Update – 28th September 2023: Drip pricing and fake reviews consultation – analysis and briefing | ICYMI New report: Taxing Tourists – The UK vs competitor destinations | Fire regs change next week | Plastics and polystyrene ban from 1 Oct too.
- Read here.
- VisitEngland link in respect of the revise fire regulations available at https://www.visitbritain.org/business-advice/fire-safety-general
mia Insights Survey
As part of our work championing the business meetings and events, we remain in close communication with government to help inform its understanding of the state of the sector and guide its strategy to support it.
You are hopefully aware of our ongoing work providing direct intelligence to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS). As part of these efforts, we proactively provide an overview of the sector’s key challenges and opportunities while we also respond to specific government requests for information.
This quarter, we are encouraging those working within the sector to provide information on the following subjects, and we’d therefore be extremely grateful if you could spend a few moments completing our latest mia Insights survey.
- Government Support
- Investments
- Booking Enquiries and Lead Times
- Staffing and Recruitment
- Martyn’s Law
- Sustainability
Click here to take part in our latest Insight survey
The deadline for responses is 5pm on Friday, 6 October.
Every response is greatly received and makes a difference, so please do take 10 minutes to complete it. If you are unable to answer the questions, please forward it to whoever in your organisation is best placed to answer.
We would also appreciate it, if you could share it with any industry peers, who you feel could also help inform the results, to ensure we are providing an accurate reflection of what is currently being experienced by those working in business meetings and events.
We’ll ensure that the latest results are shared with government and published on our website for your viewing, while also keeping you informed of discussion and outcomes that arise as a result of your feedback.
Department for Business and Trade: Call for Evidence on the Package Travel Regulations 2018
The Department for Business and Trade are pleased to announce that we have now launched a twelve-week Call for Evidence on the Package Travel Regulations 2018. Please see Press Release and Call for Evidence.
Please note that the Call for Evidence document you will need to complete the online survey is held on the bottom of the initial landing page.
We look forward to your responses and hearing your thoughts on this.
Defra: New bans and restrictions on some single-use plastic items
Are you ready for the new ban and restrictions on some single-use plastic items?
This ban applies to England only.
From 1 October 2023 there will be additional bans and restrictions on single-use plastic items. Further guidance for businesses on the new regulations can be found on GOV.UK.
We want to ensure that industry stakeholders – retailers, suppliers and manufacturers – are aware of the changes coming into effect, when they will be required to make changes and why the ban is coming into force.
The upcoming ban includes polystyrene cups and food containers, single use plastic cutlery and single use balloon sticks. There will also be a restriction to the supply of single-use plastic trays and bowls to members of the public, although businesses can continue to supply these items if they are used as packaging in shelf-ready pre-packaged food items.
How to prepare for the single use plastics ban:
The government response to the consultation on these bans, published in January, set out that these restrictions would be introduced from October 2023 instead of April 2023, giving businesses more time to prepare.
Businesses will need to use up existing stock and find alternative substitutes or reuse solutions by 1 October 2023.
This ban compliments the existing restrictions on other single-use plastic items including plastic straws, cotton buds and drink stirrers and our carrier bag charge.
Why we are banning single use plastics
The government is committed to tackling plastic pollution and littering and to reduce avoidable waste. Single-use plastics have damaging environmental impacts as they are commonly littered and are difficult to recycle. These impacts need to be managed so that we can protect our environment.
Damaging environmental impacts: Plastic pollution takes hundreds of years to break down and inflicts serious damage to the environment. It is also a source of greenhouse gas emissions, from the production and manufacture of the plastic itself to the way it is disposed of.
Unnecessary littering: England uses around 2.7 billion items of single-use cutlery — most of which are plastic — and 721 million single-use plates per year, but only 10% are recycled.
Enforcement
We know that people and businesses want to do the right thing for the environment and support our ban on single use plastics. However, if the rules are not complied with, a range of enforcement options have been provided, including both civil and criminal sanctions. The bans will be enforced by Trading Standards.
Further information
- Guidance: New restrictions on polystyrene cups and food containers, single use plastic cutlery, balloon sticks, trays, bowls and plates
- Guidance: Existing single-use plastic item restrictions
- Guidance: Carrier bag charge
- Ban on Singe Use Plastics and Polystyrene
Further questions
- If you have any questions about what the new rules mean for your business, please contact Plastics.Consultation@defra.gov.uk.
- You can also visit the Defra stand at the Restaurants and Takeaway packaging EXPO on 10-11 October, where you can speak directly with the Department’s SUP experts.
Sign up to the UK Plastics Pact
Members of the UK Plastics Pact have achieved an 84% reduction in unnecessary single use plastics since 2018 by successfully driving the reuse of problematic plastic items. To find out more and to be part of this success please sign up here.
Thank you to businesses and trade associations who have already offered to share information to help businesses comply with the ban by generating further public awareness and understanding of the need to minimise single use plastic waste.