Later today the UK’s newly elected prime minister will be unveiled, and after meeting HM The Queen at Balmoral, they’ll get the keys to Downing Street. What awaits them, and their newly appointed Cabinet over the coming days, is a formidable array of foreign and domestic policy challenges. The in-tray contains everything from the conflict in Ukraine to finding a lasting resolution to the Northern Ireland protocol, a persistent deficit and rising government indebtedness, flaccid rates of economic growth and a forecast of recession.

The appointment of the new resident at 10 Downing Street also heralds what is expected to be the first in a series of major political economic policy developments that will have profound consequences for consumer-facing businesses and households in Scotland over the months ahead as they face into the so-called costs emergency.

Tomorrow sees the return of MSPs to Holyrood following summer recess and the new parliamentary term gets under way with the First Minister unveiling her Programme for Government for the coming year. Presumably over the days ahead we’ll begin to learn the contours if not the final detail of the Scottish Government’s emergency budget review. Over and above this, the conclusions of the Holyrood inquiry into town centres and retail are also expected soon.

So we can be confident of a flurry of economy and business-related announcements in the days ahead, leading up to both the UK and Scottish administrations’ budgets later this autumn.

The good news is that for retail several longer-term building blocks are already in train. The industry is already working towards its net zero ambition to decarbonise the industry and its supply chain by 2040, five years ahead of governmental targets. Meanwhile, a new industry leadership group is now working with public finance minister Tom Arthur to implement the recently published Scottish retail strategy.

However, what will be of critical interest to retailers from the announcements over the coming days and weeks will be the immediate and shorter-term decisions aimed at addressing the gathering costs storm and injecting some much-needed confidence into the economy. To put it more bluntly, how will these decisions protect living standards, assist retailers to keep down prices for customers, and help retail destinations rebound after the difficult years of pandemic and restructuring?

It will be through this lens that the retail industry – the country’s largest private sector employer – views UK and Scottish government efforts to get on top of galloping energy bills and ultimately bear down on inflation which is squeezing the living standards of so many.

The medium to longer term prognosis will be positive in many ways, from the transition to a more energy secure future, a more decarbonised economy, and an easing of inflation. However, there is much for public policy to do in the immediate and near term to bridge to that more upbeat future, as data on flagging shopper footfall and retail sales over recent days amply demonstrates. While retailers have proved themselves to be remarkably resilient during the tumult of the past couple of years, many are saddled with Covid-era loans and tax deferrals which they are still paying down.

It is why last week the Scottish Retail Consortium submitted a new paper, Weathering the storm: tackling the costs crisis, and recommendations to the Scottish Government. Its focus is unashamedly on the myriad actions the devolved administration can take to pep up consumer demand, keep down the cost of doing business, and stimulate investment in retail destinations. It is replete with proposals: to protect workers on modest earnings from hikes in income tax, to finally restore the level playing field with England on the higher property business rate, assist retailers to invest in staff training, and give firms breathing space from regulatory initiatives so they can focus on delivering the bigger objectives such as delivering the bottle deposit scheme into which retailers have already sunk many millions of pounds. The principles the paper outlines apply equally to the UK administration.

Why does this matter? Well, few industries play such a crucial role as retail in helping to keep down costs for households. There is a lot at stake over the coming weeks and the retail industry is helping to get these decisions right so that it can continue to provide customers with the choice, convenience and value they deserve.

David Lonsdale is director of the Scottish Retail Consortium