Ceramics industry celebrates tax relief in today's Budget

CHANCELLOR George Osborne has this afternoon announced the ceramics industry will be exempt from a controversial energy tax.

Mr Osborne made the announcement during today's Budget speech - reserving particular praise for Stoke-on-Trent Central MP Tristram Hunt.

It means pottery firms will not be hit by the Climate Change Levy on energy costs.

The news is a massive victory for ceramics firms which have been lobbying the Government over the tax.

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They have said that firms like those based in Stoke-on-Trent were already being driven abroad by the heavy UK energy and climate change tax burden and unless further action was taken more would flee the country.

Government ministers introduced the range of taxes to fund renewable energy programmes, like building more nuclear power stations, and to help the country meet targets to reduce CO2 emissions.

But the British Ceramic Confederation has previously warned that for ceramics firms, which use a lot of energy to fire kilns, the extra costs could be crippling.

Today the Chief Executive of the British ceramic Confederation, Laura Cohen told The Sentinel:

“We welcome the announcement to exempt ceramics and other industries from the full costs of the Climate Change Levy from next year. This is an important signal to companies in these sectors that the UK Government has understood the cumulative climate change-related tax burden in the UK and is taking the threat to international competitiveness seriously. We look forward to working through the practical details while continuing to meet our challenging Climate Change Agreement targets.”