Budget 2011: West Midlands should be encouraged says Minister
TRANSPORT Secretary Philip Hammond said the growth measures outlined by the Chancellor in his Budget delivered a strong message of support to entrepreneurs, the low paid and the unemployed in the West Midlands.
“There is a great deal of encouragement for an area like the West Midlands, especially in the manufacturing sector,” he said.
“Manufacturing is currently growing faster than any other sector and by expanding R&D Tax Credits, doubling the size of Entrepreneurs Relief to £10m and changing capital allowances to allow for investment in new machinery we are incentivising growth, especially for micro-businesses.”
He said new Enterprise Zones would also be important steps in helping to achieve growth and would ultimately help create new jobs and ease the rise in unemployment, which is predicted to peak later this year before falling in the years following.
“The claimant count is predicted to peak at 1.54m this year and then steadily fall to 1.18m by the end of this Parliament,” added Mr Hammond.
Mr Osborne said two Enterprise Zones were set to be created in the West Midlands; one in the Birmingham & Solihull area, the other in the Black Country.
Mr Hammond said the Budget would also benefit the low paid, with changes to the personal tax allowance raising the income tax threshold to £8,105.
“We have recognised the strain that low income families are under and have acted to improve their situation but we have also recognised that what matters most is jobs, which is why the steps we have taken are so important,” he said.
In addition to support for manufacturing, he said changes to Stamp Duty – which will now be levied on the mean value of a house rather than the bulk cost – a £250m bank-levy funded commitment to first time buyers and a simplification to Real Estate Investment Trusts to encourage more housebuilding, would help to create 40,000 new jobs in the construction sector.
Mr Hammond also committed £21.7m to local authorities in the West Midlands to help fill in the potholes created by this winter’s bad weather. Birmingham alone will receive £1.68m. The money is part of a £100m pot announced by Mr Osborne for remedial work on the UK’s roads.
