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The Chancellor will kick off the first ever Regional Investment Summit with a blitz on business bureaucracy announcing further cuts to red tape and promising to save UK firms nearly £6 billion per year by the end of Parliament.
Doubling down on action already taken to spur economic growth by easing the burdens that hold businesses back, Rachel Reeves will signal the government will be scrapping pointless paperwork and speeding up planning to deliver on the Prime Minister’s 25% admin reduction target – a central commitment in the Modern Industrial Strategy to make it easier and quicker to do business in the UK.
The crackdown on needless form-filling will see over 100,000 firms qualify for simpler corporate reporting rules, freeing up businesses such as micro-breweries up and down the land from having to account for every hop they buy and removing the need for small business owners like family-run cafes to submit lengthy Director reports to Companies House.
Addressing an audience of more than 350 business leaders, local mayors and investors at the Government’s first ever Regional Investment Summit in Birmingham, the Chancellor will say:
“Our mission is clear: to create the right environment for investment through our regulatory reforms, to crowd in capital through our public financial institutions, to break down silos to collaboration on local projects, and to support innovation and growth throughout the UK.”
Businesses will also save time and money when building, with the Chancellor setting out plans for digital planning checks that could see developers sending photo evidence to authorities online which are then approved using trained AI models.
A new online map of underground cables and pipes will also help planning officials and builders avoid lengthy and costly delays caused by accidental damage, without having to contact multiple utilities companies.
These changes mean that six months after we announced March’s Regulation Action Plan we have already identified and announced £1.5 billion in savings which will contribute to the target. This is just the beginning, as delivering the 25% target will allow us to put nearly £6 billion per year back into the pockets of businesses by the end of the Parliament.
This will boost productivity by saving companies with employees around on average 200 hours on administrative activities a year.
At the inaugural summit, the Chancellor will also announce a series of new private and public sector investments in regions across the UK – creating jobs and prosperity for working people up and down the country.
In a signal of how the Government’s regulatory reforms and pro-business approach is giving major businesses the confidence to back Britain, private firms will announce over £10 billion of new investment in projects spanning the British Isles. This includes £6.5bn in investment from Welltower creating thousands of new beds in elderly facilities and £4.5 billion of value unlocked by the Crown Estate’s new project at Harwell East – building 400 news homes and supporting 30,000 jobs nationwide.
The Chancellor will also announce the Government will be investing millions more in regional projects to deliver growth – the government’s priority mission.
She will reveal that the Crown Estate has purchased land in Harwell East with the potential to build new advanced manufacturing spaces and laboratories – creating 400 new homes and 30,000 jobs nationwide, including 10,000 for working people in Harwell. Once completed, the site is expected to add £2.5 billion to the economy.
Crowding-in further investment, the National Wealth Fund will also provide £104 million to finance onshore and offshore wind projects in Norfolk and Orkney as well as to build a heat network in Hull. A crack team of specialists will also be sent to help local authorities speed up key local infrastructure projects in Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, West Midlands and Glasgow City Region, ensuring these projects are attractive to investors.
Welcoming the £10bn pledge from private investors, the Chancellor will add:
“Over the last year, we have welcomed billions of pounds of foreign investment in the UK in addition to the domestic investment made by businesses every day. But these are not just numbers. These are higher wages. They are better homes. It’s the transport, energy and digital infrastructure that underpins our nation.”
Commenting on the cuts to regulation, Business & Trade Secretary Peter Kyle said:
“A central part of our Industrial Strategy is slashing needless red tape that blocks business growth, and today is precisely about that.
“We are backing Britain, backing British businesses to thrive and grow and as part of our Plan for Change, these changes will boost jobs and grow the economy right across the country.”
Ahead of the Budget on November 26th, the Chancellor has been clear that growing the economy is her number one priority.
The Regional Investment Summit, which will be attended by business leaders, investors and local leaders to reverse decades of underinvestment, will build on the £150 billion investment commitments made during the State Visit so that, across the country, the benefits of growth are felt in towns, local high streets and communities.
Already permitting reforms announced by the Chancellor in March have cleared the way for a major offshore wind farm in Teesside that will power over a million homes and support 2,000 jobs.
Also, In Blyth a new AI Growth Zone is attracting billions in private investment following the UK–US Tech Prosperity Partnership, expected to create thousands of skilled jobs in data and energy and cementing the North-East as a clean-energy and digital powerhouse.
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