HISTORIC PRESS RELEASE : Gordon Brown highlights measures to boost business in West Midlands [February 2005]

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 2 February 2005.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer – Gordon Brown – today used a speech at the Deputy Prime Minister’s Delivering Sustainable Communities Summit in Manchester to highlight the Government’s £1 billion Local Authority Business Growth Incentives scheme.

Starting in April 2005 the scheme – which could mean up to £150m for the West Midlands alone – will allow local authorities to receive a proportion of increases in local business rate revenues to spend on their own priorities. It builds on the success of the New Deal, the Child Tax Credit and the Pension Credit. In the West Midlands, 173,650 people were helped into work through the New Deal, 428,000 working families benefit from Child Tax Credit and 271,000 pensioner households are receiving Pension Credit.

Speaking at the summit, the Chancellor said:

“Because all their business rates income went to central government, in the past local authorities had no direct financial incentive to encourage new business creation. Now under our Business Growth Incentive scheme local authorities keep a proportion of the additional business rate income generated by new business creation.

“Based on historical data we estimate that in total as a result of this measure local authorities could gain up to £1 billion over the next three years – a further incentive to encourage local indigenous business creation.

“And a boost for business in every town, city and region – every community across the country benefiting from more business and more jobs.”