Yesterday, Chancellor George Osborne delivered his Budget statement. He pledged to scrap a 3p rise in fuel duty, cut national insurance payments and raise the personal allowance to £10,000 next April. Every business in the country will also receive a £2,000 tax cut, aimed at boosting recruitment.
Speaking to Packaging News, CPI director general David Workman said it the Budget was pro-growth and pro-business.
He explained: “Given the constraints that the Chancellor is under a lot of good things have come out of this Budget. It is good news that corporation tax is going down. It is also good news that there is a cancellation in fuel tax and cuts in national insurance contributions. These measures all have to be welcomed. This will help to encourage growth in the economy and encourage business.”
However, he said on the negative side the deficit is not coming down and Osborne could have gone further in reducing the deficit. He also said that the CPI was hoping for positive news on CHP.
He said: “This is Osborne’s fourth Budget now and in my opinion this is the first one he has done geared towards growth.”
Osborne also pledged to cut the price of a pint of beer by 1p a pint. The Scottish Whisky Association said that giving beer special treatment was “unfair and incomprehensible”. It said the latest 5.3% increase would push the average price of a bottle of Scotch up by 47p to £12.89. Drinks maker Diageo told The Times: “Cutting duty on beer while increasing it on spirits punishes the UK spirits industry for its success in this harsh economic climate.”
Confidence
However, Pafa chief executive Barry Turner told PN that he welcomed the Budget. He added: “We are pleased that they scrapped 3p increase on fuel duty and we are pleased about the support for shale gas and give further incentives in that direction. We are pleased that corporation tax is coming down and that should make UK companies more competitive. The only thing that remains to be seen is whether there is sufficient stimulus to rebuild consumer confidence. It is lack of confidence that is holding the economy back.”
BPF director general Peter Davis concurred with Turner and said: “We are delighted that the Chancellor agreed to our request to cancel the September fuel duty increase which would have hit our companies’ competitiveness”.
“We are also pleased that he has announced a further cut in Corporation Tax down to 20% from April 2015, which will keep and attract investment in the plastics industry.”
On the Chancellor’s Help to Buy proposals Davis added: “In our letter to the Chancellor and our discussions with him at Albis we urged him to do more to stimulate the bottom end of the private housing market. We are very pleased he has launched “Help to Buy” with shared equity loans up to 20% of the value of a new built home to help people who can’t afford a big deposit. This should stimulate house building and refurbishment and help our members producing construction products.”
Davis also said he welcomed the Chancellor’s news about spending more on infrastructure and his support for shale gas exploration. However, he also said the BPF was “disappointed there was not more emphasis on ensuring UK industry has long term access to affordable and plentiful energy supplies, with a serious energy supply deficit on the horizon”.
The BPF also welcomed the below measures:
- Introducing a new £2000 Employment Allowance to reduce employer NICS contributions for all businesses.
- Doubling to £10k the size of loans that employers can offer tax free to pay for items such as season tickets.
- Increasing the above the line R & D credit to 10%.
Davis concluded: “These measures should help stimulate employment and investment in plastics companies.”
