Although I will not be fortunate to meet with Vince Cable MP as he visits Norfolk today I thought I would share with you what we are interested in him achieving for Norfolk.
Norfolk business interests cross a number of different Government departments but Mr Cable is in a position to help facilitate and influence other Ministers to ensure business needs are met. Of particular interest to Norfolk are the responsibilities Michael Fallon MP Business Minister within BIS has recently taken over from John Hayes MP relating to Energy and Climate Change.
The Chamber’s Norfolk wish list for the Minister includes:
- Confirmation that cash will be made available for the A47 improvements to unlock the potential of 10k jobs, add £390m to the region’s economy and attract £800m of private investment.
- Extension of Business rate relief within the GY Enterprise Zone from 2015 to 2018
- Streamlining and as a result speeding up the final stage of the planning stage relating to offshore wind to free up considerable investment
- Improved mobile coverage across Norfolk
- Reduce the minimum threshold of the advanced manufacturing supply chain initiative from £1m to support smaller projects
- Change eligibility to stop penalising businesses who have had an apprentice in last 12 months from accessing apprenticeship funding
