Responding to the Chancellor’s Budget, Ian Smith, Chief Executive of EEF West Midlands, said:
“If it wasn’t for the change in Chancellor I would have been sure they were just showing a repeat of last year’s budget. All the announcements for business have been announced several times before and most were not welcome the first time.
“The Chancellor has failed to listen to business and has gone ahead with his tax increases. He spent much of his speech laying out how he wanted to help small business. However, he still went ahead with the increase in corporation tax for small businesses which will cost them £800m and changes to Capital Gains Tax will also cost business an additional £700m.
“The innovative package of measures designed to promote enterprise will tick many of the boxes for manufacturers and will go some way towards restoring the government’s reputation in this area. We will, however, want to see clear evidence of delivery.”
Mr Smith also welcomed the additional money for science in schools.
“A quarter of schools have no specialist physics teacher and a sixth have no specialist chemistry teacher. A third of GCSE physics teachers do not even have a physics A level. We hope this money will mean more young people will be able to study science.”
On measures to tackle Climate Change, EEF criticised the lack of any clear long term strategy to maximise business opportunities from a low carbon economy and to change the behaviour of individuals. EEF especially criticised the absence of any increase in public funded R&D on Climate Change measures.
“Given the vital importance of moving to a low carbon economy, the statement was short on ideas of how we maximise business opportunities and institute the step change in behaviour necessary from all of us. It remains difficult to understand why there was no commitment to increase substantially the amount of public funded R&D on low carbon technology projects which remains amongst the lowest in the EU.”
EEF West Midlands is the largest employers’ association in the region
, representing primarily engineering, manufacturing and technology-based organisations
.
Serving its member companies is a team of over 160 staff providing a wide range of experience and expertise.
Their HR and Legal team supports and advises on HR issues including employment law and employee relations and handles hundreds of employment tribunals for their members annually. Safety and Environmental Services, the health and safety division of EEF West Midlands, also provides expert support to its members.
At their Technology Centre in Birmingham and the Conference and Training Centre in Leamington Spa, EEF West Midlands help develop the workforce required for businesses to succeed at all levels. This includes training 80% of all engineering apprentices in the Birmingham and Solihull area through to management development and nationally accredited courses for health, safety and environmental practitioners.
Nationally and across the region, EEF provides a powerful voice for its members.