Greater Manchester Chamber’s Winter Assembly updated members on a range of key topics from business rates to transport and devolution.
Chris Fletcher, Policy Director at the Chamber, began this morning’s meeting with a Policy Update covering the:
- Autumn Budget
- Industrial Strategy
- Devolution White Paper
- Trade Strategy Consultation
- Growth Plan
- Get Britain Working initiative
Chris talked about the ‘scale and pace of change’ since the new government came to power. He highlighted some of the key projects announced in the Chancellor’s Growth Plan, including the third runway at Heathrow, the Oxford-Cambridge Growth Corridor and whilst the redevelopment of Old Trafford and initiatives in Stockport were mentioned he was disappointed at the lack of projects for the North of England. Turning to the Budget, he said many employers were concerned about April’s rise in National Insurance contributions which will come on top of increases in the National Living Wage and the National Minimum Wage and outlined a letter that is being drafted that will be sent to the Chancellor sharing these concerns. He explained the LSIP would continue and form a critical element in future skills strategy and that the Department for Education was due to confirm the second stage of LSIP in the late Summer.
Business Rates
Chris Stern gave an update on proposed changes to business rates and the impact this would have on businesses. He warned there would be an increase for all businesses, although measures would be in place to support the High Street. He pointed out that the database used for establishing a building’s rateable valuer was years out of date, meaning many businesses did not know the true value of their building. With new legislation coming through this could see a huge increase in rates across all sectors.
Liverpool-Manchester Railway
Wayne Jones OBE provided an update on the proposed Liverpool-Manchester Railway which aims to speed up connections between the two cities but was not due to be built until 2045. He explained that he was a member of an industry-led partnership board which was looking at ‘bottom-up solutions’ to reduce the time it will take to build the rail line. He emphasised the project was not just about speed but would also bring a range of other benefits including:
- increased capacity
- improved reliability
- transformational enhancement to city centre stations
- improved connectivity with local public transport
He added that the UK needed to change the bureaucracy surrounding such projects as the country was waiting too long for major infrastructure to be built.
You can read more about the proposed Liverpool-Manchester Railway here.
Greater Manchester Strategy and Devolution
John Wrathmell, Senior Director, Strategy, Research & Economy, GMCA, gave an update on the Greater Manchester Strategy (GMS). He explained that the GMS, which is renewed after each mayoral election, was focused on the things that matter to people, such as good homes, a clean environment, safe communities and healthy & independent lives. The GMS delivery plan was, he said, based around the priorities of growth and prevention (i.e. the prevention of costs and social/individual harms). He added that the Chancellor had set up a group to develop proposals to drive growth in Greater Manchester through further devolution.