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Responding to the announcement that tomorrow’s Spending Review will include significant commitments to employment programmes and infrastructure investment, Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) National Chairman Mike Cherry, said:
“This Government has said it wants the UK to be the best place in the world to start and grow a business. Tomorrow, we need to see it making good on that commitment.
“Job search, skill development and infrastructure initiatives are important but the best return on government investment is achieved through enabling firms to create and protect jobs and backing the employers of tomorrow – encouraging more people, especially those who are out of work, to start-up their own ventures.
“The Treasury has rightly recognised this in extension of the Job Retention Scheme, the launch of the KickStart initiative and support for the New Enterprise Allowance and Start-Up Loans programme, but tomorrow we need to see it going further.
“Lowering national insurance contributions for employers, which serve as a jobs tax, and launching a Kickstart Start-Up scheme would go a long way to spurring job and business creation in the economy, paving the way for a sustainable recovery across the whole of the UK.
“Small employers have been hurt by the unexpected apparent removal of the Job Retention Bonus. We hope to see this issue addressed tomorrow.
“Equally, too many – including those running companies, home-based businesses, the newly self-employed and those down supply chains in hard-hit sectors – are still being overlooked. That urgently needs to change.
“Clarity around what will replace EU funding streams that facilitate crucial business support at the local level is long overdue, and we look forward to details on the future UK Shared Prosperity Fund tomorrow. It’s vital that – as we emerge from such a difficult year – this funding is protected.”
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Notes to Editors
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About FSB
As the UK’s largest business support group, FSB is the voice of the UK’s small businesses and the self-employed. Established over 40 years ago to help its members succeed in business, FSB is a non-profit making and non-party political organisation that’s led by its members, for its members. As the UK’s leading business campaigner, FSB is focused on delivering change which supports smaller businesses to grow and succeed.
FSB offers members a wide range of vital business services, including access to finance, business banking, legal advice and support along with a powerful voice in Government. Each year FSB also runs the UK’s Celebrating Small Business Awards. More information is available at www.fsb.org.uk. You can follow us on twitter @fsb_policy and on Instagram @fsb_uk.
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