Business group calls for King's Speech to drive investment

16 Jul 2024

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has called for growth to be the focus of the upcoming King's Speech.

The King's Speech will be given at the State Opening of Parliament on Wednesday 17 July. Ahead of it, the BCC has outlined five key asks:

• An Industrial Strategy Bill that gives firms greater certainty on the direction of travel and places green innovation at its core.
• A Skills for the Future Bill that incentivises firms to invest in skills and widens the scope of the Apprenticeship Levy.
• A Devolution Bill to shift more powers to regional and local government decision makers – who best understand their economies.
• A Planning Freedom Bill that sets out a system to allow large scale and local infrastructure projects, including digital, to happen at a much greater pace.
• A Trade Bill which beefs up the Board of Trade with a fresh remit to improve EU relations and focus on the UK's future growth sectors.?

Commenting on the matter, Martha Lane Fox, President of the BCC, said: 'The smoke signals coming from our new government have been very encouraging so far in terms of its ambition and the direction of travel for business.

'Well over half of the 149 recommendations in our five challenge reports were featured in the Labour manifesto. We look forward to working with the government to implement them, shifting the economy out of first gear.

'So, we're feeling positive that the voice of business has been heard and the government will introduce measures that benefit firms and help unlock investment.

'We want to work in partnership with the government to make this happen, connecting them with businesses of every size and sector across the country.'