Partner Article

CBI wants £6bn Autumn Statement investment to drive growth across regions

The Confederation for British Industry (CBI) has identified multi-billion pound public investment and the delivery of over £425bn of infrastructure improvements as priorities for the upcoming Autumn Statement next month.

Outlining its wishlist for the Chancellor, Philip Hammond, the trade body described November’s statement as one of the most important in years, and that Government needed a confident investment programme in order to lock in productivity gains across the country.

To help boost economic confidence, the CBI, which represents over 190k UK businesses, proposes that the Chancellor should consider increasing average net public sector spend to 2% of GDP over the life of the current parliament in defiance of the forecasted fall to 1.7% currently.

This, the CBI suggests, would equate to an average of £6bn extra investment cash from the public purse which it believes should be funnelled into local public transport infrastructure as well as through Regional Growth Funds, to help increase the scale and reach of local labour markets.

Furthermore, the business organisation believes that firm timetables and completion dates on over £425bn-worth of planned infrastructure improvements, including the dualling of the A1 from Newcastle to Scotland, would help to further investment and confidence in the country’s economy.

Carolyn Fairbairn, CBI Director-General, said: “The Chancellor should capitalise on the UK’s core strengths, setting out a pro-enterprise agenda that instils confidence and kick starts investment.

“With huge variations in productivity between different parts of the country, the top priority must be to set out a programme that will get our regions firing on all cylinders and supports businesses to innovate, invest and create jobs in the years ahead.”

The Chancellor is due to unveil his first Autumn Statement to Parliament on Thursday 23 November.

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