27/10/2021
Giving their full response to the Chancellor’s Budget:
On Business Rates, David Lutton, Director of Competitiveness at London First, said:
“With high streets struggling in the aftermath of Covid and firms facing rising costs, the Chancellor’s discounting of business rates, and cancelling the multiplier will come as a relief. However, this review still amounts to tinkering at the edges of a broken system. The discounts for some firms are temporary and must eventually be replaced by an overhaul that works for businesses in all parts of the country.”
On skills shortages, Mark Hilton, Membership and Skills Director, said:
“With Londoners facing the highest unemployment in the country, investment in skills needs to be matched by a step-change in delivery and implementation to ensure new schemes are targeted and effective. The Government needs to urgently map the skills of the unemployed to current vacancies, devolve more skills funding and tweak the apprenticeship levy to make it more flexible.
“We’re delighted the Government has introduced a new visa for highly-skilled fintech roles, showing a willingness to flex its immigration policy. Given that immigration is the only way to relieve the immediate challenges around skills shortages, we’d encourage it go further with a temporary recovery visa for industries most affected and by reviewing the Shortage Occupation List.”
On Air Passenger Duty, Adam Tyndall, Programme Director for Transport, said:
“As part of its Global Britain ambitions, the Government has made much of new trade deals with far-flung corners of the globe, only to follow them up with a new tax on trade with some of the highest growth regions of the world. British businesses trying to make the most of new post-pandemic opportunities will return to the skies to find it more expensive to get to Singapore, Indonesia, Japan, South Africa, Brazil, and Mexico.”
On the lack of announcement on HS2, Adam Tyndall added:
“It is concerning that there still seems to be no agreement over the future of the eastern leg of HS2, and no discernible progress in making sure that Euston station is fit for purpose as part of the plan. The Integrated Rail Plan cannot come soon enough; it must include funding for the full HS2 route and the comprehensive redevelopment of Euston.”
On housing, Jonathan Seager, Director for Place at London First, added:
“London needs to build at least 66,000 new homes a year, so it must receive a fair share of the £1.8bn new cash that’s been announced. We now look to the Planning Bill to provide greater clarity on how it will speed up housebuilding.”