Business leaders warn new cabinet of heavy workload

BUSINESS leaders in Birmingham have warned Theresa May’s new cabinet they will have little time to bed themselves in because of the heavy workload facing the city region.

Paul Faulkner, chief executive of the Greater Birmingham Chambers of Commerce, praised the new Prime Minister for the speed of her appointments but said swift action would be needed on a number of topics.

He was speaking after Mrs May revealed she was replacing Bromsgrove MP Sajid Javid as Business Secretary with former Cities Minister and Local Government Secretary Greg Clark.

In what amounts to a job swap, Mr Javid has replaced his colleague at the DCLG.

Mr Clark is a familiar figure to Birmingham from his time as Cities Minister when he was tasked with trying to get the city to back plans for an elected Mayor – something it will now have to do next year as the West Midlands Combined Authority becomes more established.

Two new positions have also been created with Liam Fox becoming International Trade Secretary and David Davis charged with overseeing Britain’s exit from the European Union in his job as Brexit Secretary.

“This new leadership will have to get to grips with their new roles in record speed if they are going to be able to also deliver the sure footed, expert leadership and clarity of vision on the Brexit negotiations we need,” said Mr Faulkner.

He added that among the burning issues facing businesses in Birmingham and the wider region now were the long-term rights of EU nationals, investment in major infrastructure projects such as HS2, and trade and export support.  

The long-term residence rights of EU nationals living in the UK needs clarifying quickly so that they – and the businesses that employ them – knew where they stood and could plan for the future with certainty.
 
“We need further affirmation that critical rail, housing, road, energy and digital schemes, whether regional or national in scope will push ahead as planned,” he said.

“Our city-region has many existing strengths, but HS2 in particular is set to be a crucial asset, encouraging investment and growth throughout this uncertain time.

“We also need clear messaging from Government around the vital role of business and export support, including Growth Hubs and UKTI.”

He said the creation of a Secretary of State for International Trade was a strong start, now what was needed was a clear post-referendum strategy to support export growth and global business networks.

A clear blueprint for Britain’s Brexit negotiations must also be a priority.

“We need a clear timeline for when or what circumstances our new Prime Minister intends to activate Article 50 and confirmation of what her negotiation priorities will be,” he added.

Elsewhere, Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya, chairman and founder of manufacturing organisation WMG at Warwick University, has welcomed the beefed up Department of Education under former Transport and International Development Secretary, Justine Greening.

The return of further and higher education, skills and apprenticeships to its former home was the right approach, he said.

“It is all to do with education and the logical thing is to put them all together,” he said.