A new year, a new Budget

Levelling up with a new government

The new administration has come to power with a number of clear priorities. Front and centre is levelling up, focusing on increasing productivity across all regions of the UK. Regional infrastructure and transport are set to benefit of this. But there are other priorities businesses should be aware of, as we head into the Budget.

There is a clear focus on research and development, with a manifesto commitment to increase capital spending in R&D. How that additional funding will be delivered will be one for the Budget, and an area where the CBI can support. On the skills side, the National Skills Fund, announced in the manifesto will be one to watch. What that means for the future of the Apprenticeship Levy is very interesting.

CBI submission: what are the priorities?

So, what is the CBI focusing on as we head into the Budget? You will remember that we shared a submission with HM Treasury last autumn before the Budget was cancelled. That will be the basis of the ‘new’ submission, but we will be adding recommendations to reflect the new administration’s focus. That namely means looking at where we can add additional announcements around R&D, and identifying regional infrastructure projects where we can be more specific.

We want to hear from you – what should we be adding?

Please get in touch, if you have any ideas about what we should add to this submission. Do you have any case studies about net-zero, R&D, or regional transport? Any best practice examples we should be highlighting; not necessarily just in the submission, but in conversations with government stakeholders?

Get in touch and check My CBI on 10 February for the final submission.