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Scottish Bakers Public Affairs work
SCOTTISH BAKERS PUBLIC AFFAIRS – MAKING SURE YOUR VOICE IS HEARD.
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Representing the interests of members and using our collective voice to feedback on and influence government policy is a vital function of the association, but is a strand of our work that often takes place out of the public eye.
This public affairs activity has also taken on a heightened level of importance: first throughout the pandemic as we engaged widely with government, its agencies and policymakers to ensure we were able to bring timely updates to members, and now as we make representations in respect of the ongoing challenges in the energy market. An example of how our influence can make a difference was during the pandemic when the Scottish Government placed stringent restrictions on food-to-go outlets that banned customers from entering hospitality businesses, including fast food outlets, cafés, restaurants, takeaways and coffee shops for food. This potentially included bakeries but after making our representations to government policymakers we secured clarification for our members, that they could continue to trade unencumbered provided food-to-go represented a smaller proportion of their offer. More recently, members will have seen some of the fruits of our work to highlight the challenges of rising energy and commodity costs. We secured high profile coverage on STV and BBC Scotland news, as well as through many other online and traditional print titles. On the back of this we also secured meetings with the Secretary of State for Scotland, Alister Jack MP and Mairi Gougeon MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and Islands to help them understand the scale of the increases being faced by members. Having a strong and engaged membership of the association gives us a more potent and credible voice when engaging in this way, making sure that those who need to hear our messages give us a good hearing.
