The Economy

Chris Kelly Excerpts

Tuesday 11th December 2012 Commons Chamber

[Chris Kelly (Dudley South) (Con)]

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker, for calling me to speak in this important debate, not least because I was otherwise due to serve on a Public Bill Committee. I draw the House’s attention to my declaration in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests.

I will restrict my remarks to how I see the autumn statement benefiting and assisting the economy in my own region. Many businesses across the west midlands are set to benefit from the plans laid out by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor last week. The 368,000 small businesses in the region, including many in my own black country constituency, will benefit from the business bank, which brings together existing Government finance plans and uses £1 billion to stimulate the market for long-term capital. The decision to increase the annual investment allowance limit from £25,000 to £250,000 for two years, in addition to an extra £25 million per year for UK Trade and Investment’s assistance and guidance on exports, will be of great help to an area such as mine, which is crammed with small and medium-sized engineering and manufacturing firms. In addition, the scrapping of the 3p rise in fuel duty, which means that fuel prices will be 10p lower than they would have been under the plans of the Labour party, will help ease the strain of transport costs for small and medium-sized enterprises.

My right hon. Friend the Chancellor has demonstrated once again that Britain is open for business. The reduction in corporation tax to 21% from April 2014 means that the UK will have the lowest corporation tax in the G7. It is worth noting that the total amount raised in corporation tax for the year 2011-12 was £43.4 billion—20% higher than it was for Labour’s last year in office. Lower corporation tax is working. It is resulting in the higher yields that the Treasury needs, while also contributing to increased private sector investment and employment.

Prior to the autumn statement, the black country chamber of commerce, which has many members in my constituency, called for my right hon. Friend the Chancellor to support a pro-business environment. In response to the measures announced by my right hon. Friend, the chamber’s president, Paul Bennett, welcomed his actions to get British business growing:

“The Chancellor’s Statement was encouraging for businesses and many of our members concerns seem to have been addressed”.

Meanwhile, Mark Hastings, the director general of the Institute for Family Business, described several of the measures as “encouraging”. This qualified support reflects the attitudes of many of the business people whom I have spoken to recently in my own constituency—they recognise that this Government are on their side—and of those in the family business sector, in which I am involved as the founder and chairman of the all-party group on family business.

It is pleasing to see the Chancellor building on this Government’s support for British businesses. Last year, we saw an increase of 250,000 in the number of private businesses, which included 226,000 new small businesses, a good proportion of which were in the west midlands. It is obvious, but still worth pointing out, that every successful large employer in the private sector started off as a small start-up. Even JCB, which was started by the inspirational J.C. Bamford and which I have had the privilege of visiting in Rocester, was once a small enterprise in a small shed. I refer the House to my declaration in the register relating to the last election.

This Government are cutting red tape and making it easier for budding entrepreneurs in this country to set up their own businesses, and that is clearly being borne out by the figures. All of that is in marked contrast to the previous Labour Administration, who introduced the equivalent of six new regulations for every single working day they were in power. It is estimated by the British Chambers of Commerce that those new regulations have cost British businesses almost £77 billion since 1998.

Last week, the Chancellor announced further support for local enterprise partnerships, which the Government created. That is the right approach because it promotes local growth by ensuring that Government spending is aligned with the priorities of local business communities. We have an excellent LEP in the black country, which is ably chaired by the no-nonsense Stewart Towe of Hadley Industries. I am confident that the Government’s approach will help to create the conditions that will enable the private sector to get on with creating more jobs in the black country.

The Government are continuing to demonstrate that they are not afraid to take tough decisions in the face of tough economic times. A clear message is being sent out that Britain is open for business and that Britain has a pro-business Government.

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Mr Lindsay Hoyle)]

Before I call the new Member for Rotherham, I remind everybody that this is a maiden speech.