CBI responds to UK Budget 2025

Rain Newton-Smith, CBI Chief Executive, said:

“The government’s growth mission is currently stalled. While the Chancellor has succeeded in creating the fiscal headroom she needed, a scattergun approach to tax risks leaving the economy stuck in neutral.

“Adding national insurance to salary sacrifice pension contributions curtails savings and pushes up the cost of employment. Coming on top of the rise to the National Living Wage, increased employment costs make it even more expensive for employers to offer jobs to young people and jobseekers.

“The government should be commended for protecting capital spending, boosting innovation, sticking with the corporate tax roadmap, and hiring the planning officers business asked for. But business will still rue a missed opportunity to be bold and press on with much needed tax reform, simplification and alignment of incentives to catalyse business investment and job creation.

“With business investment and profitability weaker as a result of these decisions, the government must now double-down on leveraging the experience and expertise of enterprise to find the step-change in economic growth that has proven elusive. One of the biggest things the government can do right now is get round the table with business to find a landing zone on the Employment Rights Bill that works for everyone.”