POLICY PULSE – MAY 2026
POLICY HEADLINES
What’s Happening
Government postpones September Fuel Tax Rises. Diesel prices have reduced marginally over the last couple of weeks but remain 40-50p higher than they were in February before the Iran War and subsequent blockading of the Hormuz Strait began. The Government had planned to begin reinstating a 5p reduction in duty, introduced after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, from September but after campaigning from the CCF and others, this has now been postponed until January 2027. Whilst this does not reverse the impacts of the Iran War, which have hit operators of HGVs and transport refrigeration units hard and contributed to inflation, it will help reduce any further rises this year and could be a lifeline for many members.
F-Gas Phasedown Reform Postponed. For months we have been waiting for the Government to publish finalised proposals on how quickly fluorinated gases used in refrigeration, air conditioning, and heat pump systems will be phased down over the coming years. The steeper phasedown mooted by the Government in a consultation last year would have resulted in many refrigerants becoming hard to find or prohibitively expensive from January. Whilst we support the aims of F-Gas reduction, this cannot be at the expense of cold chain resilience and with most transport refrigeration units, blast freezers, and as many as 50% of cold stores still using F-Gases, we argued that businesses need more time to transition to alternatives and the Government agreed, with the proposed steeper phasedown now postponed by at least a year to allow the Government to better assess the impacts and to provide businesses more time to prepare.
CCF Supported Report Warns of Risk from Extreme Heat. The Climate Change Committee is the most influential organisation in the UK for climate change policy, tasked with holding the Government to account on their net zero and climate resilience policies. This month their latest report, ‘Well Adapted UK’ looked at how society is under threat and will need to evolve due to the impacts of climate change, including extreme heat. A supporting study for this report focussed specifically on climate risks to cold chain and highlighted the risks to workers in the cold chain and our infrastructure from 40C+ ambient temperatures. The report, which frequently references CCF research and data, recommends better understanding of risks to food security from higher temperatures, training for operators and better guidance on how to design and operate cold chains in extreme heat.
ADVOCACY SPOTLIGHT
What we’re doing
Cold Chain Federation Set to Launch Landmark White Paper
We are now just days away from the launch of our landmark white paper focused on the UK’s food resilience and security, and the essential role the cold chain plays in underpinning both.
The relevance, significance and importance of the work we are doing could not be clearer, cemented by the fact that we have all major government departments in attendance of the launch, alongside leading academics, press and media, and industry experts.
Following the official launch on 2 June in London, we will be hosting a dedicated webinar where we will walk you through the key findings and recommendations from the report, explore why now is such a pivotal moment, what this means for you and your business, and most importantly, how we plan to build on the momentum we’re already seeing, to ensure lasting impact.
You can register to join our webinar here.
Cold Chain Federation Support Ministry of Defence in National Preparedness
This month, we were invited to attend the inaugural meeting of the Adaptive Capacity Alliance (ACA), a group led by the Ministry of Defence’s National Armaments Director Group, which focuses on how defence can work more closely with the logistics sector, including the cold chain, to strengthen its supply chain resilience in the event of war. We have been engaging directly with the MOD team to advocate for the critical role of the cold chain in national security, preparedness and defence, and will be attending the group’s next in-person meeting on the 16 June.
The cold chain’s role in food and pharmaceutical supply is not simply a ‘nice to have’, it is critical, and in times of conflict, disruption, and uncertainty, it is more critical than ever. It is essential that national defence strategies consider and recognise the role of the cold chain, and we are seeing growing recognition of this through increasing engagement and interest from across government departments.
In order to increase the UK’s strategic capacity and ability to respond to warfighting, government must engage with and listen to industry. We hold a wealth of operational expertise and insight that will be vital to strategic planning, resilience thinking and preparedness. That is why we are using our engagement with the ACA to ensure the cold chain is represented in these discussions, highlight the current challenges facing the sector, reinforcing the criticality of our sector – supporting the recommendations we make in our upcoming white paper.
Unprecedented Surge in Government Engagement and Interest in Cold Chain
Our engagement across government has reached a new level, with the strongest and most sustained interest we have seen to date in the role of the cold chain within national resilience and food security.
In just one week, we were approached twice by DEFRA to provide expert industry input and support advice into key aspects of UK food resilience and energy. This is on top of our consistent engagement with DESNZ, DBT and the DfT. This level of direct engagement reflects the growing recognition across government of the cold chain as an essential part of national security and resilience.
It is increasingly clear that policymakers are actively seeking out our expertise to inform strategic thinking and future policy. We are firmly established as a trusted and recognised voice across government, ensuring the cold chain’s challenges, capabilities, and priorities are heard and accounted for in policy discussions.
Significant Media Spotlight on the Cold Chain
Over the past few weeks, interest in the cold chain’s perspective has intensified, both across government and the media, with Phil being approached repeatedly by major media outlets, including the BBC and Sky News, to comment on some of the most pressing issues facing the UK food system.
Key points raised include the operational realities facing cold chain businesses, particularly rising fuel and energy costs, increased taxation, and wider cost pressures that are feeding through into the price of food reaching supermarket shelves.
The discussion has also covered the government’s proposed food price caps, with caution that while they may appear beneficial, such measures risk redistributing costs within the system rather than addressing the underlying structural causes of inflation.
Next month, Phil will be speaking on The Small Print podcast, where he’ll be discussing the key findings and recommendations from our white paper and share what we’re doing next to ensure the role of the cold chain in food security remains firmly at the top of the political agenda.
WHAT TO WATCH
What’s Ahead
Steel Strategy (From July 2026): The Steel Industry (Nationalisation) Bill will give the government powers to bring steel companies into public ownership where it is in the national interest. From 1 July, this will be supported by lower tariff-free import quotas and higher tariffs on steel imported above those limits. Whilst the bill is aimed at strengthening UK steel production in the long term, the transition period is likely to see impacts on availability and pricing of steel for cold storage construction. This could lead to higher costs for businesses investing in new cold stores, fleet upgrades or infrastructure improvements.
The European Partnership Bill: The proposed European Partnership Bill could prove significant for food supply chains and cross-border trade through a planned reset in UK-EU relations, particularly around sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) rules.The bill could help reduce trade friction, simplify the movement of food products and cut delays at borders. For the cold chain sector, reduced border delays and smoother movement of goods between the UK, EU and Northern Ireland would be a welcome development after years of disruption and added complexity.
National Audit Office report on resilience of the UK food supply chain to disruptions (Summer 2026): The National Audit Office (NAO) is due to publish a report in September 2026 assessing how resilient the UK food supply chain is to disruption. Its findings could influence future government policy on food security, infrastructure resilience, and contingency planning across the supply chain. The CCF have directly engaged extensively with the NAO on this study, including hosting them at a cold chain site to demonstrate first-hand the role of the sector in food resilience and delivering a detailed presentation on operational realities and system dependencies. We are the stakeholder with the most sustained engagement throughout their work, ensuring the critical role of the cold chain is fully reflected in their analysis of UK food supply resilience.
Decarbonisation Strategy for Non-Road Mobile Machinery (TBC): A Decarbonisation Strategy for Non-Road Mobile Machinery, which includes Transport Refrigeration Units, has yet to receive a confirmed publication date. The strategy is expected to explore how emissions from off-road equipment can be reduced through cleaner fuels, electrification, hybrid technologies, and operational efficiency improvements. For refrigerated transport operators, the proposals may signal future regulatory direction and provide early indications of funding support, compliance requirements, or technology transition pathways.
MONTHLY TEMPERATURE CHECK
Given the current backdrop of mounting pressures on food prices and global supply chains, with industry leaders increasingly calling for a new food strategy and stronger policies to secure national food security, we want to understand what you see as the biggest risk to food availability over the next 12 months.
Please take a moment to share your view in our poll. The poll will close on 11/06/2026.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION OR FEEDBACK ON ANY ISSUES IN THIS BRIEFING PLEASE CONTACT MADDY COUPE POLICY MANAGER [email protected].
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