Commenting on Chancellor George Osborne’s speech at the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, John Longworth, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce, said:
“The Chancellor could have delivered his conference speech in a hard hat and hi-vis. ‘George the Builder’ set out to demonstrate his commitment to improving Britain’s infrastructure and competitiveness. He now needs to demonstrate that he can, indeed, fix the problems that still hold our businesses back.
“George Osborne is right to say that Britain needs to be better prepared in the event of a future global slowdown. Yet the UK remains under-prepared for an economic shock. We have more to do to fix the fundamentals here at home, from training and infrastructure through to access to finance and export. The achievement of the Chancellor’s deficit and debt targets is essential. Otherwise, future governments will lack the headroom needed to support the economy when times are tougher.
“The Chancellor talks of a ‘new settlement with businesses. For too many companies, though, it feels like a set of impositions rather than a grand partnership. Governments must not forget their responsibility to deliver high-quality education, so that businesses can then invest in training, skills and higher wages – rather than constantly make up for the deficiencies of the system.”
Concerning news of business rate pilots Caroline Williams CEO Norfolk Chamber of Commerce said:
“The business community have been calling for business rates reform for some time. However we need to ensure that the process is thorough and planned with the business community at the heart of any decision.
The positives could be that the rates are spent to develop local business stock and encourage inward investment with the business community thoroughly involved.
The negative could be that the money is used to plug holes and neighbouring local authorities could start to compete with each other rather than working collaboratively
The devil is always in the detail and we await to see what the detail looks like.”
On the announcement of a National Infrastructure Commission, Caroline Williams added:
“The announcement of a new National Infrastructure Commission is an ambitious move to get key transport and energy projects built – rather than just debated. Norfolk businesses will welcome the appointment of Lord Adonis to build cross-party consensus and drive key projects forward.
“However, the new Commission isn’t worth setting up if politicians block its decisions. We will be watching closely to ensure that the Commission is able to achieve the goal of getting roads laid, railways improved, runways built, new houses delivered and our energy security ensured.”
In his round up at the end of the week, Dr Adam Marshall, Executive Director of Policy and External Affairs at the British Chambers of Commerce summed up his thoughts on the Chancellor’s announcement on business rates.
