FEATURE
Winds of change blow for 2024
Delia Cannings, Chair of the British Cleaning Council (BCC), looks ahead to what’s in store for the industry over the next year.
Looking ahead 12 months, the biggest foreseeable event on the horizon is the next General Election. There is a huge amount of speculation about whether it will be sooner or later, but it has to be held by 28 January 2025.
This has some major implications for the BCC’s lobbying work and the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Cleaning and Hygiene, for which the
BCC is the secretariat.
Over several years, the BCC has repeatedly attempted to draw the Government’s attention to key industry issues. During the COVID-19 pandemic, we regularly called for key worker status for staff. Following that, we repeatedly asked for help with the severe staff shortages affecting the sector. We also spoke out about the mistreatment of cleaning staff during Partygate.
More recently, we’ve been campaigning for the Government to adopt in full the APPG’s report ‘Embedding Effective Hygiene for a Resilient UK’ – I wrote to PM Rishi Sunak about this at the end of last year. The Government has not listened to us and, other than in the important area of the new apprenticeship standard, we have not been able to make progress on strategic industry issues.
It is frustrating and disappointing that the Government will not heed the voice of one the biggest sectors in the UK. The cleaning, hygiene and waste sector is worth £60bn and employs 1.47m people, according to our latest research.
The election winds of change could spell a fresh start for our lobbying work. Industry representatives have recently met with three Labour MPs and two Labour Lords, should there be a change in Government, and we are speaking to other APPGs.
When Parliament is dissolved ahead of an election, APPGs such as the one for our sector cease to exist and must be reconstituted. This could bring fresh momentum to the APPG’s work. In the meantime, the industry APPG is looking to work together with the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene APPG (WASH) to stage a joint event in the near future, ahead of this happening.
The area where we have made significant progress is with the launch of the Level 2 Cleaning Hygiene Operative
Apprenticeship. The apprenticeship standard will enable industry businesses to invest Apprenticeship Levy funds in their staff, providing employees with an opportunity to access a recognised work-related cleaning qualification, thereby unlocking millions of pounds for staff training in the sector. Find out more about it here.
The apprenticeship is only one rung on the formal career ladder our industry needs. We are currently discussing with our members proposals for an exciting project which will address the lack of educational structure in terms of pathways for staff progression in the sector. Watch out for news of that in the coming year.
Over the next 12 months, the sector must work together to raise the profile of the apprenticeship standard as much as possible and encourage as many industry businesses to participate. If there isn’t widespread take up, I fear there is the possibility that the initiative could ultimately be revoked.
Over the next year, I hope we will see more cleaning and hygiene businesses supporting The Hygiene Bank – the charity which works to address the scandal of hygiene poverty in the UK. With many unable to afford essential hygiene products, The Hygiene Bank directs donated products to organisations supporting those in poverty.
This is an area where our sector can make a real difference and a very big thank you goes to the sector businesses who have already supporting The Hygiene Bank. I call on other businesses to consider getting involved by donating products or fundraising. Find out more here.
Over the next year, look out for the planned high profile industry events where we acknowledge best practice, innovation, commitment to education and training, and celebrate the success of the sector.
Before we know it, it will be time for the next Cleaning Show. The industry’s flagship event takes place in London in March 2025. These occasions should be in your calendar, if they’re not already.
www.britishcleaningcouncil.org 6 | TOMORROW’S CLEANING PRODUCTS & SERVICES GUIDE 2024/2025
twitter.com/TomoCleaning
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