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Action needed, says NECC

More than two-thirds of North East businesses believe that major planning decisions would be carried out faster and more effectively if taken out of the hands of national politicians, according to a new survey.

The North East Chamber of Commerce (NECC), alongside the British Chambers of Commerce, found that 67% of firms believe that decision-making would be better off left with the Infrastructure Planning Commission (IPC).

The IPC was recently established to make decisions on infrastructure schemes of national significance in order to streamline and shorten the planning process.

The survey also revealed that poor transport, energy and digital communications infrastructure continues to hamper business growth.

The NECC claims that a lack of capacity is impacting on productivity, restricting the UK’s economic potential at a time when it desperately needs business to be driving recovery. Ross Smith, head of policy at the NECC, said: “Infrastructure in the UK, and particularly the North East, is crucial to the success of business.

“Unfortunately, too many important infrastructure decisions are getting bogged down in a bureaucratic quagmire. Businesses want a streamlined and effective process to make sure our energy, digital, and transport networks are up to the job.”

In the North East, the NECC found that 67% of companies in the region believe that major planning decisions should be taken out of the hands of politicians.

Meanwhile, 91% of firms believe that major transport, energy and digital communication infrastructure schemes take too many years to materialise; 52% strongly agree.

Also, 80% of businesses have been affected by a lack of capacity in the North East’s transport networks, primarily through a loss of man hours (66%) and increased operating costs (50%).

On a positive note, four out of five of the North East companies questioned are taking action to reduce their energy consumption and costs.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .