Bulletin: Plan for Change and shopper confidence

Plan for Change

The Prime Minister has set out the government’s ‘Plan for Change’.  Within the plan, the government has set out six milestones of delivery to accelerate progress to the five government missions. The milestones set out are:

• Higher Real Household Disposable Income per person and GDP per capita by the end of the parliament

• 1.5m new homes and fast-tracking decisions on 150 major economic infrastructure projects

• 92% of patients in England, waiting no longer than 18 weeks for an elective treatment

• Hiring 13,000 new police officers in neighbourhood roles

• A record 75% of children entering school ‘ready to learn’

• Delivering 95% clean power by 2030

The Prime minister has re-committed to streamlining the planning process through the upcoming ‘Planning and Infrastructure Bill’.

IGD opinion

The new ‘Plan for Change’ is a re-iteration of the five government missions that were set out earlier in the year as part of the pre-election Labour manifesto.  Many of these targets are not necessarily new, but the focus on measurable targets is aimed at driving progress across Whitehall.

The most significant change is the shift away from targeting the highest level of growth in the G7, to focussing on growing household living standards over the course of the parliament.  Higher living standards have been achieved in every parliament except the previous one.

Improving real disposable household income may be challenging, inflation will continue to grind down the spending power of most households, whilst impact of the Autumn Budget on businesses is expected to lead to lower pay growth for many employees.

The food system does not play a major part in the report, however sectors like food, that power the everyday economy will play a critical role in achieving progress against these milestones. The ‘Plan for Change’ re-asserts the importance of government and industry working together with a different, more strategic approach.

Shopper confidence falls

IGD’s Shopper Confidence Index for November 2024 shows that confidence has fallen by 3 points to -2, as shoppers digested the impact of the Autumn Budget. This is the lowest score the Shopper Confidence Index has recorded this year.

More shoppers now believe they will be worse off in the year ahead and more believe that food prices will get more expensive in the next year.

ShopperVista subscribers are able to access our Shopper Tracking Data to view our most recent data, including channel usage, health and ethics, shopper sentiment and missions.

Explore shopper tracking data here.

Simpler Recycling

The government has provided an update to ‘Simpler Recycling’, setting out the new default collection requirements for households and businesses in England. As a minimum, local authorities will be required to collect four separate containers:

• Residual (non-recyclable) waste

• Food waste (mixed with garden waste if appropriate)

• Paper and card

• All other dry recyclable materials (plastic, metal and glass)

The changes will progress through parliament in December 2024, with an implementation date of 31 March 2025 for businesses and 31 March 2026 for households.

Simpler Recycling is part of a wider programme of reform aimed at creating a circular economy. Another key element is the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme. Businesses will be invoiced for the packaging that they issue on to the market from October 2025.