Ahead of the Chancellor’s Spending Review and Autumn Statement announcement on Wednesday 25 November, the Norfolk Chamber of Commerce with the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) is urging the government to fix the deep-rooted structural issues facing the UK economy.
While the Norfolk economy continues to grow at a good pace, the slightly weaker numbers recorded in the BCC’s latest Quarterly Economic Survey, combined with major uncertainties over China and a continued weakness of the eurozone, are a stark reminder that the Norfolk’s economy remains in need of care and encouragement. Business wants three structural issues to be at the heart of the Spending Review:
- Fixing a dysfunctional business finance system
- Delivering business infrastructure fit for the modern age, including promised investments in road and rail schemes, long term energy security at lowest cost and upgrading our digital infrastructure
- Closing huge and worrisome skills gaps, to help young people succeed in tomorrow’s workforce and enable businesses to compete on the global stage
Caroline Williams CEO Norfolk Chamber, said:
“For decades, successive governments have created and disbanded a raft of business support programmes. The limited resources at the Chancellor’s disposal should target the structural issues that are holding us back – in training, infrastructure and finance.
“Norfolk Businesses broadly support the devolution of powers to local areas in England. If done properly, it can drive greater efficiency, accountability, and better results. However devolution must be done for sound business reasons, and not just for political gain. All devolution proposals should have a test, measuring their impact on businesses, before they are taken into legislation. There should be no business taxation without representation.”
The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has written to the Chancellor and set out what they see are the fundamental issues which reflect those of the Norfolk Chamber. See submission here
The BCC’s Spending Review submission outlines a business blueprint for the role of the state, and recommends that central government spending prioritises three areas:
- Delivering fundamentals outlined above, that are vital to supporting growth and productivity, including infrastructure, skills, and a stable tax system
- Intervening where market failure exists, such as improving regulatory oversight to support growth and accepting a role for the state in addressing structural issues such as access to finance
- Facilitating the development of markets that are vital to our economic future, including critical intervention in science and research, which underpin tomorrow’s business prospects
John Longworth Director General of the BCC said:
“Given that some areas of expenditure are ring-fenced, the challenge of delivering the remaining £20bn of fiscal consolidation must not be understated, and our ability to generate sufficient tax receipts has been hit hard by the recession.
“Businesses do support a leaner state overall. However it is unacceptable that programmes that do little to boost UK output are being protected at the expense of capital investment, the maintenance of key infrastructure assets, investment in skills and business access to finance. Fixing our productivity problem requires significant investment in people and infrastructure. Anything less and we will struggle to put our economy on a strong footing.”
Specific measures in the BCC submission include:
- Additional funding to clear the backlog of local road maintenance. A functional road network would result in fewer business hours lost queuing in roadworks and congestion (£1.4bn pa in additional spending)
- Safeguard the upgrades to the UK’s railway network (safeguarding £7.6bn pa budget)
- Ensure that any “national infrastructure plan” investment does not contribute to the debt target, meaning that central government expenditure is not burdened
- Invest in ultrafast broadband, including taking the lead in the introduction of 5G technology (£375m pa in additional spending)
- Improve HMRC service to business by match-funding investment in tax avoidance with investment in support and advice (£160m pa in additional spending)
Real terms protection of science and research budgets, and measures to protect IP, and translate this into practical application for the benefit of British business and the UK economy (safeguarding £4.9bn pa budget)
