The ILP has welcomed the election of the Labour government under prime minister Sir Keir Starmer, which has led to a swathe of new government appointments that will, in time, undoubtedly have a significant impact on the lighting industry.
Key appointments following the election on 4 July, where Labour won a landslide majority, include Louise Haigh as the new transport secretary.
Like many of the new administration’s appointments, Haigh, MP for Sheffield Heeley, was previously shadowing the transport brief, so her appointment is not in itself a surprise.
She was previously shadow Northern Ireland secretary and, under Jeremy Corbyn, shadow policing minister.
It has also been announced that Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill will be a minister within the department.
Labour’s plans for transport and infrastructure remain a little unclear at this early stage, beyond the new chancellor Rachel Reeves’ pledges to kickstart housebuilding and reform planning.
Reeves this week set out plans to consult on revisions to the National Planning Policy Framework. Labour has also pledged a comprehensive strategy for post-16 education, involving reform to apprenticeships and the apprenticeship levy.
The new administration has also committed to creating a new arms-length body ‘Great British Railways’.
This will, as the party’s election manifesto stated, be ‘responsible for the day-to-day operational delivery of the railways, for ensuring infrastructure and services work together, and for innovations and improvements in the experience of passengers and freight users’.
Other key appointments for the industry within the new government include Angela Rayner as deputy prime minister and secretary of state for levelling up, housing and communities; Jonathan Reynolds as business and trade secretary; and Ed Miliband as the new secretary of state for energy security and net zero.
A further notable appointment from the perspective of lighting has been that of Sir Patrick Vallance, former government chief scientific adviser, as science minister.
ILP Chief Executive Justin Blades said: ‘As an Institution we very much welcome these new appointments. They are a recognition of the need for expertise and competence, and a commitment to new technology and innovation, especially green technologies, where lighting is very much working to lead the way.
‘We will be interested to see how reforms to the National Planning Policy Framework play out as well as what this new administration means for skills, vocational training and apprenticeships.
‘Looking to the longer term, given the previous government’s lack of action over tackling light pollution and obtrusive light, in response to the recent Lords Science and Technology Committee inquiry, we’d be hopeful for more engagement and dialogue on what we believe is an increasingly important environmental concern,’ Justin added.
