North-East business gives its reaction to the Government's Autumn Statement

The statement was delivered by Chancellor Philip Hammond in the House of Commons at lunchtime on Wednesday.

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Stuart Miller, Director and Secretary Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA) North East, said: "We’re encouraged that the Chancellor has put infrastructure spending at the heart of his plans to improve the country's productivity, starting with the announcement of a £23bn National Productivity Investment Fund.

"In housing development, a new £2.3bn Housing Infrastructure Fund for areas of high demand is positive news, but how much will the North-East benefit from this fund in relation to the South East?

"On improving transport infrastructure, we agree that initiatives to ‘keep Britain moving’ are welcome, starting with the announcement of an additional £1.1Bn to improve local transport networks, £220m to improve transport pinchpoints and £450m for digital signalling on our rail networks.

"However, CECA NE must caution that whilst we’re encouraged by the announcement of ‘major road schemes in the North’ and a namecheck for the Northern Powerhouse initiative, we look forward to seeing the details of individual breakdowns of investments into the Tees Valley Combined Authority area and North East LEP areas.

"We repeat our call that the urgent transport connectivity issues in our region, such as an additional crossing of the River Tees, A19 Norton to Wynyard, A19 Testo’s Roundabout, East-West road connectivity from the A1 to Teesport, among many others, be accelerated to live projects without delay.

"Journey times within the region continue to hamper productivity and we feel that much can be done to improve this.

"Furthermore, we support investment in rail improvements to existing lines, as we prepare in the long term for the added capacity of HS2 to the network.

"In short, the general sentiment of the Autumn Statement could bring positive news for CECA members regionally and nationally, as well as the workforce of the region, however, we keenly await the detail forthcoming from individual public bodies with influencing and decision making capacities."

John Elliott, chairman of Newton Aycliffe company Ebac

John Elliott, chairman of Newton Aycliffe company Ebac, said: “The Chancellor did nothing to reduce the country’s deficit. The goal of a surplus by 2020 has become pie in the sky economics.

“We can’t continue to keep selling assets and borrowing to spend more than we earn. We have the resources to earn more by manufacturing more, but it won’t happen if it's left to big business.  

"Investing in manufacturing will be much better than spending billions on a high speed train line or on a National Productivity Investment Fund.”

Penny Marshall, Regional Director of the Institution of Civil Engineers, said: “The Government’s commitment to invest in infrastructure is a step in the right direction.

"Only by making sufficient funding available for the development and maintenance of roads, railways, the water network and the power grid can we ensure the country is ready to meet the economic, demographic and environmental challenges of the coming decades.”

Graham Robb

Graham Robb, chairman of the Institute of Directors in the North-East, said: “The Government’s commitment to press forward with reducing Corporation Tax will be greeted positively by North-East businesses, as will the extra infrastructure investment.

"The new borrowing powers for mayoral development corporations are particularly welcome in the Tees Valley.

“Changes to tax benefits for employees and the self-employed may be unpopular in some circles, but in general this is a very pro-enterprise Autumn Statement.

"It shows the Chancellor is serious about the North-East being part of a post-Brexit UK economic powerhouse.”