Autumn Statement – Building a stronger economy for the future
In The Plan for Growth, published alongside Budget 2011, the Government set out a comprehensive programme of structural reforms. Work has started on all 137 commitments.
In the Autumn Statement, the Chancellor has announced how the Government will accelerate its programme of structural reforms to infrastructure, support enterprise and lay the foundations for strong, balanced growth, supporting around £30 billion of new capital investment. This includes:
- working with UK pension funds to target up to £20 billion of private sector investment in infrastructure;
- providing £6.3 billion, of which £1.3 billion was announced earlier in the autumn, of additional infrastructure spending over the Spending Review 2010 period – funded by savings – including tackling congestion on the road and rail networks, superfast broadband, extra money for schools and housing, increasing the Regional Growth Fund, and more funding for science and innovation; and
- supporting around a further £1 billion of investment by Network Rail.
Through this investment, the Government is:
- supporting the delivery of the National Infrastructure Plan;
- increasing the Regional Growth Fund by £1 billion;
- providing £600 million of funding for 100 additional Free Schools, alongside an extra £600 million for Local Authorities with the greatest pressure on school places; and
- introducing a new build indemnity scheme for builders and lenders to stimulate the construction of new homes, and launching a new £400 million Get Britain Building investment fund.
The Government is also:
- launching a new Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) from April 2012; and
- making 100 per cent capital allowances in the Enterprise Zones in Sheffield, the Black Country, Liverpool, Tees Valley, North Eastern, and the Humber.
Up to £21 billion in a package of interventions – known as credit easing – to ease the flow of credit to businesses that do not have ready access to capital markets, was also announced as part of the Autumn Statement.
Growth Review and National Infrastructure Plan related links
An update on the 137 commitments made in The Plan for Growth, published alongside Budget 2011, and more information on the Growth Review.
The National Infrastructure Plan 2011 sets out a new strategy for meeting the infrastructure needs of the UK economy.
