Business lobby calls for shift to private sector
THE COUNTRY’S most prominent business lobby today proposed a raft of measures designed to rebalance the economy away from the public sector in order to create private sector growth.
In a report centred around what it called “the geography of growth,” the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) made the case for focused localist measures, intended to help the private sector of the economy grow across the country.
The CBI called for expanded Enterprise Zones, increased transparency in local planning authority performance, investment into transport infrastructure, and localised pay, claiming all of the policies could help spur growth across the country.
This report came after yesterday’s industrial trends survey data, also from the CBI, which suggested that UK industry was in a worse state even than in stagnant July.
The index for the volume of new orders plummeted from three in July to minus 13 this month, the data showed, while the index for the volume of output plunged from eight to minus three.
The index for employment also worsened, from 13 to five, but remained positive, indicating an improvement over the past three months, as the UK labour market continues to be surprisingly buoyant, despite sagging in other areas of the economy.