What can be read in to the Coalitions last Autumn statement and is it good for business?
Growth – 3% growth forecast in 2014, up from 2.7% predicted in March followed by 2.4% in 2015, 2.2%, 2.4%, 2.3% and 2.3% in the following four years. Unemployment set to fall to 5.4% in 2015. With unemployment falling and modest growth what measures will organisations put in place to retain talent?
Health – £2bn extra every year until 2020 for the NHS and GP services to get £1.2bn in extra funds from bank foreign exchange manipulation fines. Rising demand from an ageing population together with concerns over obesity and continued staffing shortages requires radical changes, will this additional funding be used to shore up a broken system or to invest in real transformation?
Business – Research and development tax credit increased for small and medium-sized (SMEs) firms, Support extended to small businesses with £500m of bank lending plus £400m government-backed venture capital funds which invest in SMEs and £45m package of support for exporters. In addition National Insurance on young apprentices abolished. Whilst small any support for small businesses is welcomed, in particular measures that increase R&D activity.