Throughout March, our policy team continued to keep our members up-to-date with the latest developments that may impact their interests and operations, whilst advocating on your behalf in an effort to shape policy. Here’s a recap of the key activities from March:

UK Spring Budget

March saw the UK Chancellor announce his Spring Budget. Whilst this was light on new policy we did welcome some measures such as the increase in VAT registration threshold, but will continue to advocate for more to be done to improve business conditions.

London-Edinburgh collaboration

In partnership with London Chamber of Commerce and the City of London Corporation, we are looking at how to maximise the connections and collaborations between our two capital cities. As part of this, a group made the trip up from London, including a City of London Alderman, for a productive lunch bringing together members from finance and culture – critical sectors in both cities. A dinner focused on financial services provided further insights alongside opportunities for discussion and networking. We’re now looking at follow-up activity to capitalise on the connections made.

Cross-Party Edinburgh Economic Briefing

We held our latest quarterly briefing, to which we invite all local Councillors, MSPs and MPs – in addition to our usual economic update, we passed on feedback from our members insights roundtable, including on tax divergence, digital literacy, and the night-time economy.

‘Place’ Event

The inaugural meeting of our short life working group to help us plan a ‘Place’ themed event was productive, generating good ideas for themes and topics. We’re excited about the potential of this group to create a meaningful and insightful full-day event for our members later this year.

Consultations

We continue to engage with consultations from both the City Council and the Scottish Government to ensure your views are heard and policies are developed with business in mind. This included the Scottish Government’s consultation on their draft Heat in Buildings Bill, which proposes deadlines for phasing out polluting heating systems and increasing energy efficiency, as well as their draft Circular Economy and Waste Route Map. The Council’s consultation on the management of Edinburgh’s World Heritage Site was flagged up to us by one of our members, who had concerns that the strategy was overlooking the role and influence of the private sector – we do rely on members telling us about the issues they’re facing, or areas where we can advocate on your behalf so please always feel free to get in touch with our policy team at policy@edinburghchamber.co.uk

Coming up

Looking ahead, we’ll be continuing to engage with policymakers, through a range of direct conversations and through consultations. This will include roundtables where we’ll bring together a small group of members with the Minister for Small Business, Innovation, Tourism, and Trade, and with the Cabinet Secretary for Wellbeing Economy, Net Zero, and Energy.

We’ll also be responding to the City Council’s consultation on their plan for how the city can adapt to climate change, ensuring that businesses are not forgotten. The Scottish Government have also published several consultations on the planning system – we’ll be holding a roundtable with members to get your views and insights so do get in touch if you want to join us.