CAMPAIGN CALLS
Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce has worked with its members to define this campaign. It draws on the work of the Campaign for Business 2015 and has been updated in the light of changes to policy since then incorporating members' opinions as set out in its Brexit Position Statements and its submissions to the consultations on both the government’s industrial strategy green paper and its Northern Powerhouse strategy. This campaign has been put together by the Chambers’ members through the Chamber Assembly and approval by the Chamber’s Policy & Campaign Committee.
The Campaign for Business 2017 has 6 key themes each of which has a short narrative and a selection of priority points that members expect from the next government.
By using its members and evidence and intelligence gathered over the last few years, the Chamber can present its most accurate summary to date on what the demands and expectations of businesses in Greater Manchester are of the next government and deliver an ongoing series of campaign activity to ensure their successful delivery.
You can download our full 2017 Campaign for Business document here.
The Campaign for Business 2017 has 6 key themes each of which has a short narrative and a selection of priority points that members expect from the next government.
By using its members and evidence and intelligence gathered over the last few years, the Chamber can present its most accurate summary to date on what the demands and expectations of businesses in Greater Manchester are of the next government and deliver an ongoing series of campaign activity to ensure their successful delivery.
You can download our full 2017 Campaign for Business document here.
Snapshot of our 6 #CampaignCalls
1: Devolution & Place
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2: Business Environment & Taxation
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3: Trade
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4: Skills & Employment
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5: Infrastructure & Planning
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6: Brexit
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Click on each of the tabs below to find out more on each of the themes.
1: Devolution & Place
The process of devolution has started. Business wants to see this continue with further powers being given to those areas that are capable and have the capacity to deliver genuine economic growth.
GMCC Members expect the next government to:
- Continue and accelerate the accountable devolution of powers to local regions
- Support and champion asymmetric devolution across the UK – letting those areas that have the capability and capacity to deliver successful devolution activity to continue their progress
- Ensure that local governance has a suitable mechanism for both a direct and democratic input from business
- Provide a more adequate way of funding LEPs and promote a truly open recruitment strategy for their boards
- Provide a national framework that supports the delivery of locally-driven and place-based industrial strategies to support business growth with infrastructure, services and skills, that not only focus on the strengths of established businesses, but also ambitiously seeks new growth opportunities
- Fundamentally review the core funding requirements of local government to provide services sufficient to support and grow the local economy as well their statutory services
- Working closely with business, evaluate how local government can best be given new powers to diversify and strengthen their tax base, including the variation and retention of local taxes
2: Business Environment & Taxation
Business needs clarity over government strategy with less “up-front” taxation and a supportive financial regime which will allow them to grow, invest and recruit.
a)Taxation
Recent government policy on commercial taxation has focused heavily on reductions in the headline rate of corporation tax at the same time as a continued increase in input or “up-front” taxes, those that businesses must pay regardless of their turnover, profitability, or overall success. This risks creating an environment that places too much pressure on new or small businesses, hampering their expansion into the medium- and large-sized businesses of the future. We call on government to commit to a wider review of commercial tax that, over a period of time, seeks to better balance the full suite of business taxation to support business growth, with greater local flexibility of taxes subject to appropriate democratic control.
GMCC Members expect the next government to:
b) Access to finance
Access to traditional debt-finance, in parts, remains difficult, particularly for small firms. Whilst there have been many government-led interventions into the market, they are not clearly positioned and are often confusing, having grown in number over the years. Though newer forms of lending are increasingly rapidly, they are doing so from a small base, and their effects on the wider marketplace will remain limited for at least the short term.
GMCC members expect the next government to:
Recent government policy on commercial taxation has focused heavily on reductions in the headline rate of corporation tax at the same time as a continued increase in input or “up-front” taxes, those that businesses must pay regardless of their turnover, profitability, or overall success. This risks creating an environment that places too much pressure on new or small businesses, hampering their expansion into the medium- and large-sized businesses of the future. We call on government to commit to a wider review of commercial tax that, over a period of time, seeks to better balance the full suite of business taxation to support business growth, with greater local flexibility of taxes subject to appropriate democratic control.
GMCC Members expect the next government to:
- Commit to further development of its business tax roadmap, taking into account all corporate taxation, the balance of input and output taxes and any barriers to growth that are in conflict with the wider aims of the government's industrial strategy
- Assess the administrative and compliance burden of the commercial taxation system, seeking to deliver simplicity and rationalisation (workplace pension)
- Continue with its reforms of the business rates system including delivering more frequent, lighter-touch valuations, including self-assessment, the removal of plant and machinery from the valuations process, the redesign of the profile of transitional relief and to seek to reduce the share of business rates from the overall business tax burden
- Review the effects of Air Passenger Duty on the UK's national and regional airports strategy, including the devolution of revenues to local areas, on whom a significant infrastructure burden can be placed, or its abolition
- Further consider the roll-out strategy for the Making Tax Digital programme, ensuring that additional reporting requirements are proportionate for different sizes of businesses
b) Access to finance
Access to traditional debt-finance, in parts, remains difficult, particularly for small firms. Whilst there have been many government-led interventions into the market, they are not clearly positioned and are often confusing, having grown in number over the years. Though newer forms of lending are increasingly rapidly, they are doing so from a small base, and their effects on the wider marketplace will remain limited for at least the short term.
GMCC members expect the next government to:
- Rationalise the number of government-backed lending schemes, delivering them through existing institutions where possible and, where not, focused through single programmes rather than multiple separate products
- Better enable local institutions such as Chambers of Commerce to function as a single point of contact providing independent advice for businesses seeking finance
3: Trade
Business wants less government intervention on trade and a move away from target-led activity to maximise the expertise and connections in the UK and global Chamber network.
GMCC members expect the next government to:
- Put genuine business- led trade support first by increasing work with the UK Chamber network, recognising its relevant and deep expertise in international trade, its global network and its unparalleled access to small and medium sized businesses across the UK
- Provide support for business-led export and international trade initiatives such as the Overseas Business Network
- Working with the Chamber network, develop and deliver an Export Voucher scheme to allow for highly-targeted support delivered in local areas to businesses seeking to expand overseas
- Maintain and improve access to export support for businesses of all sizes with more evenly-distributed support available for small businesses, including support for first-time exporters as a priority
- Develop an investment framework in long-term support packages for exporting firms
- Develop a more extensive regime of both inbound and outbound trade missions
- Accept that not all international trade advice can be delivered on-line and commit to an expansion of face-to-face services to support businesses to grow overseas
4: Skills & Employment
Business needs influence not ownership of the skills system and recognises the need to better connect the whole education system from pre-school through to HE to genuine and practical work experience.
a)Employer-influenced skills and training
GMCC members expect the next government to:
GMCC members expect the next government to:
c)Supporting employer good practice
GMCC members expect the next government to:
GMCC members expect the next government to:
- Commit to further devolution of the 16+ skills system to local areas, including full funding streams, to better support the responsive supply of locally-required training
- Consider and deliver adequate funding of the adult skills budget to better support re- and up-skilling of the existing workforce
- Commit to sustained delivery through a business-led intermediary to act as a sign-posting and independent broker to support SMEs to procure the right training for them and to improve relationships between employers and training providers
- Recognise the importance of raising the UK business's levels of competence in leadership and management to support the development of employees throughout their careers and to improve the UK's workplace productivity
GMCC members expect the next government to:
- Work with business and schools to support the integration of employability skills into the curriculum
- Ensure that an effective mechanism is in place to identify and ensure that all young people leave secondary education with acceptable basic skills levels in core subjects such as English and maths to alleviate the extra cost and burden placed on retrospective teaching at FE/HE level.
- Establish a mechanism that teaches enterprise – not entrepreneurship/self employment in schools supported by relevant and effective work experience activity
- Facilitate a new model of careers information, advice and guidance that provides a system whereby business can take a leading role in providing up-to-date and relevant information to both school pupils and also adults considering retraining or career changes
- Better understand the role of, and encourage and support, international students, considering the long-term advantages to international trade that can be developed through key relationships established whilst at UK education institutions
c)Supporting employer good practice
GMCC members expect the next government to:
- Commit to the restoring the independence of the Low Pay Commission in setting the levels of the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage, and to work with business to support a voluntary campaign for employers to pay a real living wage
- Work with business to promote the meaningful closing of the gender pay gap and the facilitation of women and ethnic minorities into roles and sectors where they are underrepresented
- Work with business to develop and deliver an effective childcare policy that supports parents and carers to return to the workplace
- Facilitate areas to invest in early years' support to improve the life and health outcomes for disadvantaged families
- Work with health organisations and business to provide greater support to employers and employees to manage mental health in the workplace
- Work with business to extend the uptake of flexible working
5: Infrastructure & Planning
Infrastructure needs continued increased investment to go beyond making it adequate for current needs. The need to move goods, data and people around efficiently is fundamental for a modern economy and demand will increase in the future as the economy strengthens – better connectivity means better growth.
GMCC members expect the next government to:
- Reverse its decision to place the National Infrastructure Commission within HM Treasury, and instead deliver the initial vision founding it as an independent and cross-party body that reports to parliament
- Outline a long-term national infrastructure strategy that includes how to distribute funding to the best level to deliver efficiently, with local flexibility over how the funding is spent
- Within this strategy outline how infrastructure will be planned for, establishing a role for better future-proofing of capacity requirements including sufficient capacity for both resilience and recovery of any systems
- Learn from the work of Transport for the North and bring forward proposals for greater devolution in infrastructure planning and delivery
- Develop transformational park and ride schemes with full supporting public transport services to alleviate chronic city centre congestion.
- Work with leading organisations in the development and delivery of smart city programmes to improve environmental, health, and productivity outcomes for urban areas
6: Brexit
Business needs ease of access to overseas markets, continued “frictionless” trade with the EU and a resolution of the employment status for EU workers.
GMCC members expect the next government to:
• Prioritise trade stability with the EU above the ability to deliver new free trade deals with third countries
• Seek in the negotiations with the EU an outcome which replicates as much as possible of the principal aspects of the Single Market, reducing risks to current and additional trade, before committing when the UK should leave the Single Market
• Work with UK business and to support negotiations with the EU to deliver at least an integrated form of customs co-operation that mitigates the risk of additional bureaucracy or customs checks on goods entering or leaving the Customs Union
• Commit to maintaining a regulatory convergence with the EU, at least over the short term, to minimise instability at the point of exit
• Work with the EU to provide the UK with the ability to build on existing EU Free Trade Agreements
• Prioritise trade stability with the EU above the ability to deliver new free trade deals with third countries
• Seek in the negotiations with the EU an outcome which replicates as much as possible of the principal aspects of the Single Market, reducing risks to current and additional trade, before committing when the UK should leave the Single Market
• Work with UK business and to support negotiations with the EU to deliver at least an integrated form of customs co-operation that mitigates the risk of additional bureaucracy or customs checks on goods entering or leaving the Customs Union
• Commit to maintaining a regulatory convergence with the EU, at least over the short term, to minimise instability at the point of exit
• Work with the EU to provide the UK with the ability to build on existing EU Free Trade Agreements