Business and political leaders in the North East have gave a fairly lukewarm reaction to the Chancellor’s Spring Statement, saying it did not do enough to tackle rising costs being faced by families and firms alike.
Rishi Sunak announced a cut in fuel duty and a rise in the threshold for workers to pay National Insurance. But with the statement on Wednesday coming after official figures showed another rise in inflation, most groups in the region felt the measures announced did not go far enough.
Arlen Pettitt, North East England Chamber of Commerce knowledge development manager said: “This Spring Statement was not on a significant enough scale to make a difference to many businesses, or our region as a whole, at present” while Richard Baker, strategy and policy director at the North East LEP, said: “Some of the big investments which could have accelerated growth in the North East will await the Budget. We also expect to see more detail on regional policy issues, including detail on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, later in the year."
