The Prince of Wales set out the government’s priorities for new laws in the context of the rising cost of living and increasing cost of doing business. We welcome high-level ambitions to level up and grow the economy, tackling long-standing regional inequalities – but firms are ultimately more concerned about delivery.
Key takeaways for regional growth
Levelling Up Bill
- Going Digital: £6 billion committed to bring gigabit capable broadband to 85% of the UK and to provide 95% of the UK population with 4G by the end of 2025.
- Local Transport: The Levelling Up Bill allocated £5.7 billion in eight cities outside of London, £5 billion of funding for buses and active travel and £96 billion for the Integrated Rail Plan which is focused in the North and Midlands.
- Freeports: the government committed to maintaining support to the current freeports and to establishing more around the UK, as shown by the £26 million deal for a new freeport in Wales.
Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill
- GDP boost: this bill highlights that if Levelling Up is successful in all regions and nations the GDP could be boosted by £180 billion.
- Devolution: it committed to giving all areas in England the opportunity for a devolution deal by 2030.
- Rental agreements: it also gives more powers to local authorities to bring empty premises back into use and instigate rental auctions of vacant commercial properties in town centres and on high streets.
Our CBI experts have analysed the Queen’s Speech 2022 in full – read key insight, and find out what this year’s speech means for your business.
What was missing from the speech for regional growth?
- Planning reforms – many firms would benefit from more streamlined planning processes and the speeding up of planning consents. The omission of a stand-alone Planning Bill is disappointing and a missed opportunity to drive economic growth
- Levelling Up – employers support proposals which can help rejuvenate our high streets, create jobs and drive growth. The limited proposals in this Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, are unlikely to be the catalyst for firms to unlock greater growth in their region or nation
What’s next for Levelling Up?
At the conclusion of the Levelling Up bill there was a note on the hopes and expectation of the future for Levelling Up. These include boosting productivity, pay, jobs and living standards by growing the private sector which the CBI has been championing in our Go for Growth campaign.
In the coming weeks, the CBI’s policy teams will be working with members and Parliamentarians to ensure the delivery of this Queen’s Speech has businesses’ views at its heart.
We believe that establishing successful clusters of industrial excellence to power economic growth in every region and nation is the only way to achieve sustainable prosperity and succeed in Levelling Up the UK.
This week we have kicked off a pioneering regional programme of ‘think-ins’ designed to spur business growth and investment, in all corners of the country – convening expertise from industry, Government and academia to shape its Clusters Playbook, which will define the journey to cluster success across the UK.
Read more about our Clusters Playbook and how you can get involved.