Suffolk Chamber statement on Andy Burnham as Prime Minister

“Suffolk Chamber and the thousands of businesses that we represent will be waiting eagerly for the Burnham administration’s detailed economic policies to be fully developed and explained.  We certainly believe that the Chamber network is particularly well-placed to help deliver the Government’s place-based agenda through developing good growth in every postcode and the much-needed rewiring of economic and political power to a more regional and local level.

“In the immediate term, we have two key requests to Andy Burnham and his new ministers: 

“Firstly, please do not forget that the costs of living crisis is not separate from the costs of doing business one! As shown by all of Suffolk Chamber’s quarterly economic surveys for the last two years or so, local companies and especially smaller ones, are struggling against a rising tide of high taxes, high energy prices and challenged supply chains. This is having a prolonged and negative impact on business confidence, investment and hiring, which all have significant implications for the cost of living.

“Secondly, please do not overlook the East of England and Suffolk in particular where chronically out-of-date rail, road, connectivity and utilities infrastructure is holding back good local growth and the full contribution we can make to sustainable national prosperity. In particular, this must mean fast-forwarding investment in the Ely/Haughley rail junctions and advancing funding both for the A14 and associated roads in and around Ipswich and the A11 Five Ways junction in the west of the county.

“In his first speech outside Number 10 he spoke about boosting British industry through public procurement, something which we have long called for to help local SMEs grow through fairer access to council and health service contracts. We applaud the intention behind this and look forward to early legislation to give smaller businesses a fairer chance to win public sector contracts than at present.

“We’d also like to see the Government being bold in committing not just to reforming the creaking Business Rates system, but to its wholesale replacement by a fairer method of taxing businesses, such as through shifting the business rates burden into other existing business taxes. Alongside this, it is essential that the Burnham administration outlines a pathway for the reminder of this Parliament to reduce the harms caused by the 2024 Budget, especially the lowering of the salary thresholds at which firms pay Employer National Insurance Contributions.

“Finally, Suffolk Chamber has co-authored a letter with Norfolk Chambers to the new Prime Minister urging him to press on with plans to establish a Mayoral Strategic Authority. This would avoid both counties once again being pushed to the back of the devolution queue and so losing out on funding and political voice.”