After the Conservative’s win at the General Election last month, now seems the perfect time to examine what was promised by the party in the lead up to 7 May and what the future might bring for businesses in the UK.
1) Economic recovery is number one
At the forefront of the Conservative’s plans are to pay the UK’s debt, cut the deficit to zero through departmental and welfare spending reductions and rebalance the economy.
During the election campaign, David Cameron was vocal about the party’s ‘long-term economic plan’ and this has already been a key pledge for the new Government.
The Government has outlined plans to have the country running a financial surplus by 2019 plus transforming the UK into one of the world’s most prosperous economies by 2030.
2) Investment in infrastructure
The Conservative Manifesto also pledged to invest £100 billion into infrastructure investment in a bid to help attract businesses to the UK and provide more jobs.
The main things on the Conservative’s shopping list included:
- Transport – £38 billion investment planned for trains and £15 billion on roads and cycle routes. In addition, £500 million on eco-friendly zero emissions vehicles
- Technology – £790 million planned to be spent on universal broadband and mobile. Also, by 2017, 90% of the UK landmass will have SMS coverage
3) New Business Secretary
After former Business Secretary Vince Cable failed to retain his seat in the Election, appointing a new Head of Department for Business, Innovation and Skills was essential for the new Government.
Sajid Javid has been appointed as the Business Secretary and Anna Soubry has taken the position of Small Business Minister. Javid will be responsible for implementing changes to business law and policy, including banking regulations, as well as promoting UK business initiatives and encouraging innovation.
4) They’re the ‘party of business’
The Conservatives present themselves as the ‘party of business’ and have said they will continue the work they started through the coalition by reforming Business Rates, offering finance to businesses and reducing Corporation Tax. The Government has also pledged to achieve full employment by helping businesses create two million additional jobs. During the Queen’s Speech, it was stated that the Government will create three million new Apprenticeships and abolish long-term youth employment. Employees will also benefit from the National Minimum Wage which will increase to £8 by 2020.
Legislation is also due to be introduced for companies with more than 250 employees to publish their gender pay gap to make business practices fairer. The Small Business and Enterprise Deregulation Bill will be introduced in a bid to cut £10 billion of red tape and will introduce a small business conciliation service to tackle disputes between large firms and suppliers to clamp down on late payments.
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Posted on Monday, June 1, 2015
