SFE responds to UK budget

Commenting on today’s UK Government Budget, SFE Chief Executive, Sandy Begbie CBE, said:

“The government fought and won the general election pledging that economic growth would be its number one mission. This positively pro-growth tone is to be welcomed, and a government with a large a majority and full term ahead of it has a real opportunity to make good on that pledge.

 “Business intuitively understands the financial pressures facing the chancellor but unfortunately, there is precious little in this budget that will help deliver substantial economic growth.

 “The increase in employer national insurance contributions is effectively a tax on jobs and will be a bitter pill to swallow for businesses, disproportionally hitting those employing workers on low wages. When combined with the recently announced employment bill, this represents a significant increase in cost to business.

 “The decision to bring pension savings into the scope of inheritance tax is likely to impact confidence in the long-term savings industry. Where we should be encouraging people to save for the future, this may act as a disincentive and would appear to have a disproportionate impact on private sector workers.

 “If businesses are going to shoulder the burden of fixing the public finances, they expect value from public services which can only come through serious reform and significantly improved productivity.

 “With a significant uplift in Barnett consequentials coming to Holyrood, the Scottish government needs to focus on pro-growth measures. We understand the need to invest in public services, but that needs to be balanced with both public sector reform and policies that will stimulate economic growth.

 “The UK government has the mandate and opportunity to re-engineer the economy to deliver efficient public services, improved productivity and the economic growth we need and, as Scotland’s largest industry, we stand ready to help deliver that.”