The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI) have issued a statement regarding its application for judicial review versus The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).

 ​​Following confirmation from the Administrative Court that The ABPI’s application for judicial review has been turned down, the following statement has been issued.

“The ABPI is disappointed that the judicial review application has been turned down. It’s now appropriate for us to take time to reflect on the judgement with our members and decide next steps.”​

The application for a Judicial Review stems from the introduction – by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) – of an additional negotiation process for medicines that had already been assessed as cost-effective if they were likely to cost the NHS more than £20million in any of the first three years of use.

ABPI asserted that NICE’s own analysis showed that around one in five new medicines would be impacted. They were also seeking to reverse changes to the assessment of medicines for very rare diseases, which they believed to be inappropriate and unworkable. 

Further information here

Source: ABPI

The Association of Independent Professionals and the Self Employed (IPSE) has welcomed the appointment of a Small Business Commissioner, a measure it has been calling for for several years. It emphasised the need for new Commissioner Paul Uppal to fight for the self-employed. 

Simon McVicker, IPSE Director of Policy said: “Late payment and non-payment by clients are a huge barrier to successfully running a business and the new Commissioner needs to hit the ground running and tackle this head-on. The average freelancer currently loses almost 20 days a year chasing invoices and this must change.

“As someone who ran his own business, Mr Uppal knows how difficult being self-employed can be. He needs to use this experience to fight for the interests of our smallest firms.

“The UK also has a significant problem of businesses – many large – using freelancers without paying them. There is often an expectation that freelancers, especially those working in creative industries, take on projects with only the promise of credit and exposure. We need to see a cultural change so work that has a value is paid for. This issue should be top of the new Commissioner’s agenda. Mr Uppal shouldn’t be afraid to name and shame the worst offenders.”

 Source: IPSE

The UK new car market declined for a sixth consecutive month in September, with 426,170 new units registered, according to figures released today by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). Registrations fell by -9.3% in this key month, as economic and political uncertainty, and confusion over air quality plans led to a fall in consumer confidence.

Demand from business, fleet and private buyers all fell in September, down -5.2%, -10.1% and -8.8% respectively. Meanwhile, registrations fell across all body types except dual-purpose, which grew 2.4%. The biggest declines were seen at opposite ends of the market with both luxury saloons and superminis falling -36.4% and 21.2% respectively.

Demand for alternatively fuelled vehicles (AFVs) continued to accelerate in September however, surging 41.0% in the month and 34.6% year-to-date, with nearly 95,000 leaving forecourts this year. However, this couldn’t compensate for declines in registrations of petrol cars, down -1.2%, and, especially, diesel which fell for the sixth consecutive month, down -21.7%.

Confusion surrounding air quality plans has inevitably led to a drop in consumer and business demand for diesel vehicles, which is undermining the roll out of the latest low emissions models and thwarting the ambitions of both industry and government to meet challenging CO2 targets. Indeed, if new diesel registrations continue on this negative trend, UK average new car CO2 levels could actually rise this year, the first time such an increase would have occurred since average CO2 emissions were recorded.² So far this year 485,067 diesel vehicles have been produced in the UK, and maintaining strong demand for the latest new diesel vehicles is essential for the health of the UK automotive sector that employs over 814,000 people.

Year-to-date, new car registrations have fallen -3.9%. But, overall, the market remains at a historically high levels with over 2 million vehicles hitting UK roads so far this year.

Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive, said,

“September is always a barometer of the health of the UK new car market so this decline will cause considerable concern. Business and political uncertainty is reducing buyer confidence, with consumers and businesses more likely to delay big ticket purchases. The confusion surrounding air quality plans has not helped, but consumers should be reassured that all the new diesel and petrol models on the market will not face any bans or additional charges. Manufacturers’ scrappage schemes are proving popular and such schemes are to be encouraged given fleet renewal is the best way to address environmental issues in our towns and cities.”

Source: SMMT

MORE INFORMATION CLICK HERE

New analysis by the BRC spells out the potential cost to shoppers of leaving the EU without a tariff-free trade deal.

Over three quarters of the food that the UK imports comes from the EU and without reaching an agreement on trade, most of these goods will be subject to new tariffs. As a result, the average cost of food imported by retailers from the EU would increase by 22 per cent.

Further analysis, based on the proportion of European food retailers sell and the impact of new tariffs demonstrates how much typical products could be affected. The impact will be considerable if UK producers react to higher import prices and push their prices up to align with foreign products.

For consumers, new tariffs will mean higher prices. The BRC has estimated potential price increases for a number of everyday food items, should goods from the EU face WTO tariffs. According to calculations based on import and sales data gathered from BRC members, and tariff rate data from the International Trade Centre, the price of cheese could rise by more than 30 per cent, or for tomatoes nearly 20 per cent.

Andrew Opie, Director of Food Policy at the British Retail Consortium said:

“Price increases of this scale to everyday food items will add a huge burden to hard pressed consumers whose finances are already under increasing strain from inflationary pressures.

“Even at the lower end of the risk, price rises of five to nine per cent dwarf the increase from inflation that shoppers are currently paying on food goods (BRC’s latest Shop Price Index reported food inflation of 1.3%). And the tariffs are particularly high on meat and dairy products, meaning that products such as beef and cheese would be hardest hit.

“With consumers’ buying habits being dictated ever more by a shrinking pool of discretionary spend, there’s no doubt that they will find an additional hit of this magnitude to their weekly food bills extremely hard to swallow.

“There will be opportunities from new trade deals in the medium to long term, but there’s a pressing need to avoid a cliff-edge situation on Brexit day. This is why the priority for the UK Government has to be securing the continuity of free trade with Europe from March 2019 and thereby delivering a fair Brexit for consumers.”

Source: BRC

MORE INFO CLICK HERE

The British Beer & Pub Association, representing Britain’s brewers and pub companies, is urging the Chancellor to cut tax on beer in the forthcoming Budget.

The BBPA has launched an infographics campaign via social media, to engage industry staff, customers, and the wider public to support a cut in beer duty in the Budget on 22nd November. 

The BBPA is urging everyone to get involved, by supporting the campaign on social media platforms.

 

Social media tools will support efforts to drive traffic towards the BBPA’s www.cutbeertax.co.uk website, where anyone can quickly email their local Member of Parliament urging them to support the campaign. For any social media use, in particular on Twitter, supporters are urged to include the #cutbeertax hashtag. 

“I hope everyone will get behind the campaign on social media, says BBPA Chief Executive Brigid Simmonds. “Government plans for further beer tax rises are unsustainable, and showing MPs the scale of concern in their own constituencies is essential if we are to persuade them to make this issue a priority.”

 

Source BBPA

ARLA Comments on Labour Rent Control Announcement and Conservative Private Rented Pledges.

ARLA Propertymark, which claims to be the UK’s foremost professional and regulatory body for letting agents – representing over 9,000 members – has commented on proposals for rent controls put forward at the recent Labour Party Conference, and a Conservative Conference pledge to regulate private rented sector.

David Cox, Chief Executive, ARLA Propertymark, says

“The Labour Party clearly hasn’t learnt the lessons of history. The last time rent controls existed the private rented sector went from housing 90 per cent of the population to just seven per cent. Whenever and wherever rent controls are introduced, the quantity of available housing reduces significantly, and the conditions in privately rented properties deteriorate dramatically. Landlords, agents, and successive Governments over the last 30 years have worked hard to improve the conditions of rented properties and this is like taking two steps backwards. Rent control is not the answer – to bring rent costs down we need a concerted house building effort to increase stock in line with ever-growing demand.”

However, commenting on Conservative pledges to regulate the private rented sector Cox says,

“After 20 years of our campaigning falling on deaf ears, we’re very pleased the Government has taken the decision to regulate the private rented sector. This will be the single greatest step forward in a generation, in terms of consumer protection for private tenants, and will do more to clean up the image of the industry than the hundreds of smaller laws and pieces of legislation introduced over the last 20 years. However, regulation can take different forms and we need to see the detail of proposal to be confident that it will be effective for tenants and landlords.”

The Association of Licensed Multiple Retailers the trade body representing the interests of the UK’s eating and drinking out sector says the UK needs a Hospitality Minister to promote their needs.

The UK’s vital and vibrant hospitality sector must have its own dedicated Hospitality Minister, says the ALMR. Hospitality is the UK’s 3^rd largest employer incorporating a wide range of sectors and businesses. With Brexit providing uncertainty for employers and costs for businesses rising, the time is right for the Government to appoint a dedicated Minister to the support the sector. 

ALMR Chief Executive Kate Nicholls speaking at the ALMR Autumn Conference, called upon the Government to appoint a Hospitality Minister to help support the UK’s vital hospitality sector, saying:

“UK businesses are facing an unprecedented period of political and economic instability. Uncertainty, chiefly prompted by Brexit, is undermining businesses’ attempts to plan and invest and we need clear action from the Government to address this.

The UK’s hospitality sector is the 3^rd largest employer and incorporates a vast range of businesses and sub-sectors, not least of all the countries’ resilient and innovative eating and drinking out businesses. These are the business that have driven growth in local economies in every part of the UK, creating 1 in 6 of all new jobs since the recession.

These businesses are looking ahead with a sense of trepidation as we approach Brexit and costs continue to rise. Issues important to our members, and the wider sector, straddle a number of different Government departments encompassing: employment, planning, taxation, food & drink, tourism and more. There is need for a national role to span these issues and ensure that crucial businesses are properly catered for.

The Government must show leadership and support for these vital employers by creating a new role of Hospitality Minister to ensure transparent and useful engagement with businesses and promotion of the sectors’ interests. This will help promote a consolidated approach from both businesses and Government departments to help facilitate Brexit discussions and outcomes, and help inform the Government’s Industrial Strategy.”

Source: AMLR

ACS (the Association of Convenience Stores) has responded to Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Michael Gove’s announcement of a new call for evidence on bottle deposit return schemes, urging the Government to consider the negative impact that such schemes would have on the convenience sector.

The call for evidence follows the Government’s Litter Strategy for England which was published in April, establishing the Voluntary and Economic Incentives Working Group to ‘consider the advantages and disadvantages of different types of deposit and reward and return schemes for drinks containers.’

ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “We welcome the Government’s attention on tackling litter, but have concerns about any measures that would have a negative impact on retailers whilst being unproven as a way of increasing recycling rates in the UK. Introducing a deposit return scheme would have a significant impact on the convenience sector, costing stores money, reducing the amount of space in stores and causing delays at the till for those who would have to manage the scheme manually.

“Deposit return schemes are also not a popular measure with the public, who would prefer to use the existing kerbside collection network to recycle more.”

The scope of the call for evidence has been defined by DEFRA as looking at the impact of ‘rigid and flexible plastic, glass or metal drinks containers that are sold sealed, and used for the sale of alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages, often for consumption on-the-go.’ The group is due to provide advice on how to proceed from a policy perspective by the end of 2017.

During his speech to the Conservative Party conference, Mr Gove said: “We are looking to go further to reduce plastic waste by working with industry to see how we could introduce a deposit return scheme for plastic bottles. Our oceans are our planet’s greatest natural resource and this Government is determined to ensure we restore them to health for the next generation.”

Research conducted by Populus on behalf of ACS in March this year showed that 70% of consumers favour their existing household collections over other methods of recycling such as deposit return schemes. Additionally, a report published by waste recycling company Viridor last week showed that UK consumers were divided about the merits of deposit return schemes. The report showed that:  

Less than half of consumers (44%) are willing to pay for a deposit return scheme for plastic bottles;

Only 4 in 10 (43%) now feel very confident that they put different waste in the right bins;

and, 78% of consumers believe that their local council should be responsible for recycling.

ACS will be responding to the call for evidence in due course. More details are available on the DEFRA website here

Penguins are birds that have fully adapted to the marine environment. At the NetXtra Breakfast Club meeting at London Zoo recently we learned how associations must also adapt their online markings, to blend with their environment, and to attract the attention on which they feed. We also learned the communication tools they must adopt to survive. Is this the latest proof of survival of the fittest?

Darwinism contends that plants and animals make incremental changes over generations as they adapt to the world around them. But the rapid pace of change in the online environment condenses timeframes, and membership bodies don’t have eons in which to adapt. So the great thing about events like this is that shared wisdom means we can learn from each other’s traumas and triumphs without becoming extinct!

FSRH

The Faculty for Sexual and Reproductive Health (FSRH), offers qualifications and membership to clinical professionals as well as producing clinical guidance documents that are referenced by healthcare professionals. And yet, despite that clinical guidance being the most used resource on their website, they weren’t its main focus for the website project. That was to create easy online journeys for users to achieve FSRH membership via qualifications. Abby Wright-Parkes and Emma Barrett, FSRH head of membership and digital manager respectively, shared their experience of a two and a half year project, and to bring their online presence up to scratch.

Their challenge was to eliminate the “forest of options” provided by their old site. By focusing their efforts on qualifications, it become very quickly apparent that the Guidance and Standards section of the website was not meeting users’ needs. More consultations were required! The result was a simple, user friendly, interface for this section of the site that met the needs of their stakeholders and, to their surprise, yielded a 400% increase in use. The experience has paved the way for the next wave of adaptations, including an online CPD Diary.

So, what did they learn from their experience? First, they “underestimated the giant cultural journey that these changes implied”. Second, they concede that they expected too much from their website project, that, far from being simply an IT project, it represented significant organisational change. Their learnings included realising that they should have focused more on what the old site had to tell them by way of available analytics, and that harnessing a wider consultative group provides valuable perspective when considering future plans.

A break-out for round-table discussion proved that others shared their doubts, but could learn from their experience.

 

Luminescence

Language is, by definition, a method of human communication – either spoken or written – consisting of the use of words in a structured and conventional way. Anna Marsden, from communications agency Luminescence, was on hand to break some of the bad habits of its online written form. Far from “pushing out information” as was suggested from the floor, managing content is all about being agile, responsive, and in tune with the zeitgeist. Establishing a vision and optimising formats, are crucial. As is imagining yourself in the mind of the reader. 

Blaise Pascal is purported to have said, “I would have written a shorter letter, but I didn’t have the time”. Which sounds counter-intuitive, but illustrates one of the pitfalls that ensnare many NFPs. Secretariats are great at writing technical reports designed to persuade Boards with overwhelming data or arcane detail. But there is no place online for the verbose, the boring, or the irrelevant. Too much text, too few pictures and graphics, out of date content, and repetition, are all cardinal sins.

Top tips? Spend more time on editing. Focus on outcomes, not outputs. Align your activity with your wider strategy; consider your target audience; have different tactics for different platforms; and, establish metrics for measuring your success.

Don’t forget, it isn’t a sin to share others’ content (see the PESO model) – with attribution – and where appropriate. Lastly, put effort into monitoring what you’ve already done, rather than just pushing out more information.

How Was it For You?

 Richard Hayward, Head of PR & Communications at CITMA, said:

“Navigating the Content Jungle was the best membership sector breakfast event I’ve been to. Engaging presenters and excellent venue – it provided a real practical insight into amplifying our content.”

Michael Hoare

©2017 M J Hoare

The characteristics of financial crime have changed. Bank robbery is almost a thing of the past. Even robbers aren’t stupid enough to risk capture and sentencing for a violent offence, when the rewards for online crime are just as great, but without the jeopardy! Phishing attacks, for example, rose more than a fifth (21%) in 2015, and estimated to cost Britain more than £280million.

Fraud also costs the UK economy over £190 billion a year. Of which public sector losses accounted for over £37 billion in 2013/14. So, an estimate of charity sector deception at around £1.9 billion is not far off the mark. Most fraud is low value but high volume, so the risk of detection is slight. And, as fraud is about hiding and concealing, what’s detected only represents about one thirtieth of what’s taking place.

But in the face of such bald statistics few membership bodies have a fraud response plan in place. Nor are fraud and corruption likely to be written into an organisation’s Risk Register. Perhaps because they don’t think it will ever happen. But it does, so how do membership bodies counter the threat?

The answer is to quantify the risk, and set out to minimise it. First, by designing and communicating a counter-fraud strategy built around the known threats. Then, by creating a structure to implement your strategy, and using it to undertake a range of pre-emptive and reactive actions, like occasional random invoice audits and stock checking. All of which is easier said than done in a busy environment.

But, with the aid of staff who know, and are willing to identify, the weaknesses in their own company. Who recognise the personal consequences, in terms of job losses and business failure, that accrue from fraud; and aren’t tolerant of ethical ‘grey zones’, it is possible to instil an anti-fraud culture. After all, if only 10% of people are dishonest, that still leaves 90% who realise that weeding out fraudsters is in their own best interests. Make them aware of the legal protection afforded to whistle blowers in the form of the Public Interest Disclosure Act.

Fraud is easier to deter than detect. So, an anti-fraud culture can have a preventive effect, but you must also try and design weaknesses out of processes and systems; detecting fraud where it isn’t prevented, applying a range of sanctions, and seeking redress and covering losses. But never underestimate the resources needed. Management buy-in is essential, but so are resources in the form of time, equipment and training, so be realistic.

Lastly, be aware of fraud ‘red flags’. Does any employee appear to be living beyond their means, always the first in and the last out of the office, or reluctant to take long periods of leave?  These may be signs of wrong-doing.  But suspicion alone is not enough. Always take legal advice before conducting any internal investigation.

Michael Hoare

©2017 M J Hoare