Invest in innovation and infrastructure, says CBI

INFRASTRUCTURE investment and measures to boost innovation and entrerprise should be top of the Chancellor’s agenda in next month’s Autumn Statement, the CBI has said.

The latest CBI/URS Infrastructure Survey shows that businesses expect transport and energy infrastructure to worsen over the next five years while the business group wants to see the government reform business rates.

There are also calls for an improved, or “supercharged” research and development (R&D) tax credit and a freeze to long-haul Air Passenger Duty.

The CBI, which wants a continued commitment to deficit reduction, estimates its proposals will cost £676m in 2015-16 which it says can be covered by public spending cuts and departmental savings.

Director general John Cridland said: “The UK recovery is on solid ground but it is in increasingly stark contrast to what’s happening elsewhere in the world. With eurozone economies flat-lining, continuing political tension between Russia and Ukraine, and in the Middle East, and slowing emerging markets, we must be alert to the possible knock-on effects here.

“Businesses recognise the public purse is under pressure, which is why they want the Government to continue tackling the deficit, alongside targeted, affordable measures to keep UK growth motoring now, in the next Parliament, and beyond.

“We know firms are concerned about the state of our roads and energy supply and affordability, so the arrowhead of business recommendations is a major push on improving the country’s infrastructure. Businesses want to see the Government set out clear project plans, with start dates and timescales.”