The British Chambers of Commerce is calling for growth to be the focus of the King’s Speech next week to give businesses confidence to invest.
Baroness Martha Lane Fox, President of the British Chambers of Commerce, said: “The smoke signals coming from our new Government have been very encouraging so far in terms of its ambition and the direction of travel for business.
“Well over half of the 149 recommendations in our five challenge reports were featured in the Labour manifesto. We look forward to working with the Government to implement them, shifting the economy out of first gear.
“So, we’re feeling positive that the voice of business has been heard and the Government will introduce measures that benefit firms and help unlock investment.
“We want to work in partnership with the Government to make this happen, connecting them with businesses of every size and sector across the country.
“They will be watching this King’s Speech closely to see if the Government’s positive words translate into legislation and policy that can really make a difference to them.”
The latest data from the BCC’s Insight Unit shows investment remains patchy with wide sectoral differences. Worryingly, three quarters of firms, overall, have no current plans to raise spending. This inertia remains despite business confidence rising and fears over inflation and interest rates falling.
With the new Government placing economic growth at the heart of its early plans, the BCC has set out five key asks for the Government in its King’s Speech:
- An Industrial Strategy Bill that gives businesses greater certainty on the direction of travel and places green innovation at its core.
- A Skills For The Future Bill, which incentivises businesses to invest in skills and widens the scope of the Apprenticeship Levy.
- A Devolution Bill to shift more powers to regional and local government decision makers – who best understand their economies.
- A Planning Freedom Bill that sets out a system to allow large scale and local infrastructure projects, including digital, to happen at much greater pace.
- A Trade Bill which beefs up the Board of Trade with a fresh remit to improve EU relations and focus on the UK’s future growth sectors.
These recommendations are all based on the BCC’s five recently published challenge reports across People and Work, Global Britain, Digital Revolution, Green Innovation and the Local Economy of the Future.
