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Autumn Statement 2011 - Growth

News Release issued by the COI News Distribution Service on 29 November 2011

Release issued by HM Treasury and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, and the Business Secretary, Vince Cable, have today announced a wide-ranging package of more than 140 reforms to build a stronger and more balanced economy. These measures include actions from the second phase of the Government's Growth Review Phase II and the National Infrastructure Plan.

These measures are supported by an infrastructure package of £30 billion. This includes unlocking up to £20 billion of private investment through signing a Memorandum of Understanding with two groups of UK pension funds, an additional £5 billion of infrastructure spending in this Spending Review period, and commitments to £5 billion of capital projects in the next Spending Review period. In addition, the Government is supporting around a further £1 billion of investment by Network Rail.

To make the UK's infrastructure fit for the 21st century, the Government has published its National Infrastructure Plan 2011. The plan sets out a critical analysis of the state of the UK's infrastructure and sets out a pipeline of over 500 infrastructure projects. It commits to clear ambitions to address the key challenges in each major infrastructure sector - energy, transport, telecommunications, waste and water.

The key measures in the National Infrastructure Plan include:

* introducing a new approach to financing infrastructure, by leveraging £20 billion of private investment from pension funds;
* giving local authorities more flexibility to support major infrastructure by considering local borrowing to fund the Northern Line extension to Battersea, and exploring new sources of revenue, such as options for tolling on the A14.
* investing over £1 billion to tackle areas of congestion and improve the national road network, including £270 million for two new managed motorway schemes at congested times on the M3 and M6.
* investing more than £1.4 billion in railway infrastructure and commuter links, including £270 million for a rail link between Oxford and Bedford and £390 million on enhancement and renewal works to improve stations and infrastructure.
* investing £100 million to create up to ten 'super-connected cities' across the UK, with 80-100 megabits per second broadband and city-wide high-speed mobile coverage.
* The Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, will chair a new cabinet committee on infrastructure, to push through the delivery of the top 40 priority projects and programmes that are critical for growth.

The second phase of the Government's Growth Review has been led jointly by HM Treasury and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS). The Autumn Statement announces a set of further reforms building on this, including:

* creating a £20 billion National Loan Guarantee Scheme, to lower the cost of loans to small businesses, and a £1 billion Business Finance Partnership, which will lend to mid-sized businesses and small and medium sized businesses in the UK through non-bank channels.
* increasing the Regional Growth Fund by £1 billion to provide ongoing support to grow the private sector in areas currently dependent on the public sector.
* an extra £600 million to fund 100 additional Free Schools, and an additional £600 million to deliver an additional 40,000 school places.
* introducing a new build mortgage indemnity scheme which will help up to 100,000 families to buy their own home, and launching a new £400 million Get Britain Building investment fund to progress stalled developments.
* providing £45 million of support to UK firms wishing to export, doubling from 25,000 to 50,000 the number of SMEs supported, and making similar support available to 500 mid-sized businesses.
* making 100 per cent capital allowances available in six Enterprise Zones (Black Country, Humber, Liverpool, North Eastern, Sheffield, and Tees Valley).
* making available around £250 million from 2013 to support energy intensive industries manage the costs of electricity, including increasing the relief from the climate change levy on electricity for Climate Change Agreement participants to 90 per cent.
* an additional £200 million for science capital investment.
* investing £55m into the Strategic Rail Freight Network to help deliver schemes that remove bottlenecks and improve capability and longer term connectivity to the UK's major ports.
* giving a bigger role to businesses in purchasing vocational training programmes. In the New Year employers will be invited to bid for a share of a new £250 million government fund. This will route public investment directly to employers.
* taking decisive action to remove barriers to hiring by making reforms to streamline employment law.
* investing £10 million over five years from 2013-14 in Project Enthuse, matched by investment from the Wellcome Trust, to improve the quality of science teaching in schools.
* announcing how the Government will maximise the value of public sector data.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, said:

"We are committed to making Britain the best place to start, finance and grow a business. The measures I am announcing today will help us to achieve this by creating an environment in which businesses are easy to set up, have access to credit when they need it and are able to grow without being held back by red tape. This action supports our deficit reduction plan and the Government's monetary activism as we build a balanced economy."

Business Secretary, Vince Cable, said:

"These measures are an important element of the Government's work to create the right conditions for business to start up, invest, grow and create jobs. They sit alongside our deficit reduction plan and work to increase the supply of credit.

"I attach particular importance to infrastructure and Government capital spending, including that on innovation and science, and the credit easing initiative. Speedy and effective implementation is now required, building on the major progress that has been made implementing phase one."

The first phase of the Growth Review was published in March 2011. Work has started on all 137 commitments and substantial progress has been made. The Government has today published an update on every single measure announced in The Plan for Growth.

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Notes for Editors

1. The Autumn Statement document, containing full details of all measures, can be downloaded from: http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/as2011_index.htm
2. The Office for Budget Responsibility have published updated forecasts for the economy and the public finances in their Economic and Fiscal Outlook, which can be downloaded from: http://budgetresponsibility.independent.gov.uk/publications/economic-and-fiscal-outlook/
3. Other documents published alongside the Autumn Statement document include:
* Autumn Statement data sources
* Autumn Statement policy costings
* Autumn Statement distributional analysis
* The National Infrastructure Plan 2011
* Audited Whole Government Accounts for 2009-10
* Review of the UK's regulatory framework for covered bonds: a summary of consultation responses
4. The first phase of the Growth Review, led by the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Secretary of State for Business, was published alongside Budget 2011 in the Plan for Growth. Work has started on all 137 commitments and substantial progress has been made. Full details of the progress that has been published today. http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/ukecon_growth_index.htm
5. The second phase of the Growth Review focused on infrastructure, logistics, education and skills, mid-sized businesses, the rural economy and open data.
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