{"id":10638,"date":"2015-11-26T12:42:30","date_gmt":"2015-11-26T12:42:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tat.reddaisytrading.co.uk\/index.php\/2015\/11\/26\/a-mixed-bag\/"},"modified":"2015-11-26T12:42:30","modified_gmt":"2015-11-26T12:42:30","slug":"a-mixed-bag","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/2015\/11\/26\/a-mixed-bag\/","title":{"rendered":"A \u2018Mixed Bag\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Chamber raises concerns over Chancellor George Osborne\u2019s autumn statement<\/h3>\n

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Business leaders in the West Midlands today said that the Chancellor\u2019s autumn statement was a \u201cmixed bag\u201d that will raise concerns in some areas.<\/p>\n


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Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce\u00a0 (GBCC) said it was good to hear Mr Osborne recognise the power of the region, highlighting how the Midlands is \u2018creating jobs three times faster than London and the South East\u2019.<\/p>\n


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Henrietta Brealey (pictured), policy director at Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce (GBCC), said: \u201cBirmingham alone created 21,000 private sector jobs in 2014, more than any other core city and the West Midlands exports more than Scotland and Wales combined. The Midlands Engine is a force to be reckoned with.\u201d<\/p>\n


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She added: \u201cRegarding tax, we support the Chancellor\u2019s wish to modernise and digitise the tax system. However, we have an ever-increasingly complex tax administration in the UK.<\/p>\n


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\u201cEarlier this year the Government pledged a \u201cbonfire of red tape\u201d and introduced a \u2018\u201done in two out\u201d rule on regulation, excluding tax administration. We would like the Government to take clearer action to not just modernise the process of paying tax, but the whole system, to make it simpler and less costly for businesses.<\/p>\n


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\u201cWe also have concerns about the introduction of an Apprenticeship Levy as described by the Chancellor. Businesses want to do their bit to support and train young people and engage with apprenticeships.<\/p>\n


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\u201cHowever, if the levy is, as was described, simply a 0.5 per cent additional tax on the wage bill of all businesses (with an allowance of up to \u00a315,000) it could amount to another costly administrative and financial burden on firms, hampering rather than driving recruitment and training intentions. We were, however, pleased to hear that funding for FE and adult skills will be protected in cash terms.<\/p>\n


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\u201cThe 17 per cent cuts announced to the Department for Business Innovation and Skills also raise concerns. While we will not know exactly where the axe will fall in terms of this department\u2019s spending, we do need to see funding for business support programmes such as UKTI, maintained if the government wants to achieve its ambitious targets for exports and economic growth.\u201d<\/p>\n


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Describing the statement as a \u201cmixed bag\u201d, Ms Brealey said: \u201cThe Chancellor\u2019s announcement that capital funding of transport projects will rise by 50 per cent will no doubt be welcomed by businesses in the region who are struggling under our congested road and rail network.<\/p>\n


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\u201cWe are, however, concerned by the Chancellor\u2019s emphasis on London and the North in relation to infrastructure spending. We need to see a fair distribution of infrastructure spend to support our region\u2019s growth.<\/p>\n


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\u201cWe welcome confirmation that Small Business Rate relief will be extended. But while there are potential benefits to the devolved power over business rates, the fundamental issue for businesses isn\u2019t who controls what receipts but the actual system itself which is complex, outdated and in need of reform. We want to see more action on improving the business rates system.<\/p>\n


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\u201cOverall we were pleased to hear the Chancellor approach the review with a clear commitment to balancing the books while emphasising economic security.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n


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Chamber raises concerns over Chancellor George Osborne\u2019s autumn statement Business leaders in the West Midlands today said that the Chancellor\u2019s autumn statement was a \u201cmixed bag\u201d that will raise concerns in some areas. Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce\u00a0 (GBCC) said it was good to hear Mr Osborne recognise the power of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11753,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-10638","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10638","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10638"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10638\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11753"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10638"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10638"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theasiantoday.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10638"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}