Business West: Spending Review Response

Following today's Spending Review, our Director of Policy, Matt Griffith, said

“We now have a general idea of the Government’s intent, but we await further details on exactly what this means for our region.

We welcome the boost in affordable housing, transport, and infrastructure, which is much needed in our region. The overall message is stark though: the UK faces rising demands for public spending on health, welfare and defence. We need an economy, and strong business base, to bring in the revenue to pay for this.

The recent announcement of £752 million in transport investment for the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority shows that our region has been making progress in being visible to central government. However, the West of England, and wider South West, is still not able to access the full range of funding and powers that other regions have. We need access to these as soon as possible. This is not just in the interests of our region, but the wider UK economy too."