New West Country 'investment zones' expected
From new investment zones, to concerns about adult social care and the issue of 'trust' in politicians, we look ahead to today's mini-budget
Last updated 23rd Sep 2022
Kwasi Kwarteng is set to announce the creation of low-tax, low-regulation investment zones in his mini-budget on Friday - including in Plymouth, Somerset, Cornwall and the West of England.
The Government is in talks with dozens of local authorities in England to set up zones and is also considering converting the post-Brexit freeports introduced by Boris Johnson into investment zones, where further deregulation is expected.
The Chancellor is expected to tell the House of Commons: “The time it takes to get consent for nationally significant projects is getting slower, not quicker, while our international competitors forge ahead. We have to end this.
“To support growth right across the country, we need to go further, with targeted action in local areas.
“We will liberalise planning rules in specified agreed sites, releasing land and accelerating development.
“And we will cut taxes, with businesses in designated sites enjoying the benefit of generous tax reliefs”.
During the Tory leadership campaign, Prime Minister Liz Truss said investment zones would be central to her plan to boost growth.
More details on how areas can bid to take part will be set out by the Department for Levelling Up.
Speaking ahead of the mini-budget, Dr Hannah Bunting, from the University of Exeter, who researches trust in politicians, said: “Prime Minister Liz Truss has said she’s prepared to be ‘unpopular’ ahead of a series of economic policy announcements this week. While most people would agree that you can’t please everybody all of the time, the nature of these policies could have a lasting impact on the ‘popularity’ – and therefore the trust – of politicians and government overall.
“The plans to increase borrowing and pass on this debt to future generations, alongside scrapping bankers’ bonuses, could be seen as a return to trickle-down economics. Research from YouGov back in 2015 showed the public do not think this strategy works and this opinion is unlikely to have changed, especially as the gap between rich and poor widens even further. A lack of willingness to enact policy that directly benefits those who are struggling most right now is likely to have detrimental effects on how citizens view government’s attitude to them. This could entrench an already growing distrust of politics in general.”
Councils across the UK are calling on the new Prime Minister to deliver on her promise, made during the Conservative's leadership election, to provide more funding for adult social care.
The County Councils Network, (CCN), which represents 36 mainly Conservative councils, warn: "Councils face an 'extremely challenging' 18 months ahead, as the cost-of-living crisis and inflation adds an additional £3.8bn to the costs of delivering social care.
"Without it, Devon County Council estimates a funding shortfall of between £30m to £40m over the next 10 years.
"Part of that is down to national reforms in adult social care being introduced next year that will see the council’s costs rising with more people becoming eligible for council-funded social care, more generous financial support for those receiving care, and higher fees most likely, to be paid to care providers."
“Whilst the Government’s aims to enable more people to receive financial support is laudable, they are unaffordable unless Ministers provide hard-pressed councils with vital additional funds,” says Cllr James McInnes, the Council's Cabinet Member responsible for adult social care.
"But it's not just about the money. The reforms create and exacerbate real workforce challenges that we are already faced with. There are already too many people waiting too long for assessment, and we'll have the responsibilities for many more people than we are now."