A fall in trade between the UK and EU shows SMEs are shunning EU exports, a leading Midlands tax expert is warning.

Latest data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows a second consecutive monthly fall in trade, with the effects of Brexit and the global pandemic resulting in the total exports of goods, excluding precious metals, falling by £1.3 billion (4.6%) in August 2021.

The Leader of City of Wolverhampton Council has called on the Chancellor to make the future of local government funding a priority at the forthcoming comprehensive spending review. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, is due to deliver details of future Government spending plans on October 27.

Council Leader, Cllr Ian Brookfield said he wanted to see a clear commitment that enough money would be made available to councils to fund essential local services and level up their communities as the country emerges from the pandemic and after more than a decade of austerity.

Commenting on the strategies, Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands and chair of the WMCA, said: “As the home of the green industrial revolution we are already developing the solutions to achieve our own ambitious target of becoming a net zero region by 2041.

“So, we welcome the announcement of these two new strategies in which government sets out a clear path on how the UK can reach its national net zero target by 2050.

The UK government, trade bodies and multinational corporations must offer greater support to smaller businesses around making the transition to green manufacturing, academics have warned ahead of COP26 and following the publication of the UK’s net zero strategy today.

Steven McCabe and Beverley Nielsen, Associate Professors at Birmingham City University and co-editors of a new book featuring contributions from leading industrialists, industry body representatives, political commentators and academics on the topic, suggest much more must be done in order to enable and support SMEs in a UK-wide switch to environmentally sensitive production across sectors.

Green jobs need to be created at 25 times the current rate if the Government is get its 440,000 new jobs target in green industries by 2030, according to new analysis by the job site Indeed. The UK’s low carbon and renewable energy economy is in the spotlight as it prepares to host the COP26 international summit on climate change in November.

Severn Trent is opening its doors to its state-of-the-art Academy in Coventry to provide free employability sessions to its communities to support with more people getting back into work following the pandemic. To coincide with this year's National Family Learning Festival (16-31 October) the company is launching its employability offering, and now anyone can have free access digitally or in person, to valuable skills and training to support with those needing to find work, or who’s circumstances may have changed.