REACTION
The creation of enterprise zones was a highlight for the region’s business community as Chancellor George Osborne delivered his second Budget since last year’s General Election.
Christine Braddock, president of Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, said that although no decision had yet been made on the location of the zone, it had enormous potential for growth that would produce opportunities for investment, including overseas.
She added: “This is an extremely positive step forward. This zone has the potential to drive growth, incentivise business and encourage entrepreneurship and so will help to support the delivery of our LEP’s vision.”
Although, as expected, George Osborne scaled back his forecast for growth, early indications from Birmingham Chamber’s economic survey for the first quarter of this year suggest that conditions are starting to improve, particularly cash flow and investment intentions.
Dr Braddock added: “Our members inform us that red tape hinders the private community and we are encouraged by today’s decision to scrap £350m of business regulation.
“No new regulation on firms with fewer than 10 staff for three years and business rate relief holiday for small firms extended for another year will make it easier for companies to grow and create jobs. With the majority of Birmingham’s businesses relying on transportation in some way and with inflation currently standing at 4.4 per cent, it was integral that next week’s fuel duty rise was postponed to alleviate pressure. The business community is also pleased to hear that prices are set to go down by 1p per litre immediately.
“There is a danger that Britain will become a less competitive arena in which to do business so the Chamber is pleased that the Chancellor acknowledged that the top 50p tax rate is a temporary measure.”
Mike Dell, President of Black Country Chamber, said that the Chancellor had clearly listened to the concerns of business.
“We urgently need support for the manufacturing sector and assistance to increase our exports,” he said. “We fully welcome the announcement of an enterprise zone in the Black Country. This is a real opportunity to incentivise high value business growth. We will continue to work closely with the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEP) to bring forward ideas for how we can maximise the opportunities from enterprise zones.
“Reduced planning restrictions are hugely important. Assisting development and growth must become the guiding principle of the planning system and processes must be streamlined to reduce delays, uncertainty and cost to business. Support to kick start the building and construction sectors will significantly help the economy, however we would have liked to see an incentive such as reducing VAT for home improvements to encourage spending.
“We welcome announcements on tackling burdensome regulations and the scrapping of £350 million of business regulation, but we await further details regarding this. We called for a moratorium on employment regulation, but we need the ‘one in one out’ rule to be implemented as soon as possible.
“We welcome the consultation on merging NI and income tax, which would greatly simplify the system, but we recognise that it will be incredibly difficult to achieve.
“We fully support a clamp down on the ‘no win no fee’ culture, which is problematic and costly for employers. We are also pleased that Lord Young’s recommendations are going to be fully implemented on health and safety , but unfortunately this does little to reduce the cost and burden on high risk industries which also have competitiveness restricted by excessive health and safety legislation.”
