With the General Election just over a week away, businesses across the region have had their say on the promises being made to them by the parties vying to become the country’s next government.
Both the Conservatives and Labour have made bold pledges over tax, as well ambitious plans to build millions of homes, controversial changes to education and billions of pounds of investment in the energy sector.
Tax
The Conservatives say they will reduce National Insurance tax for employees by a further 2p for every £1 they earn by 2027. This is in addition to the 4p already cut in 2024.
They also say they will abolish the main rate of National Insurance paid by the self-employed.
There are more than four million self-employed people across the country, who currently pay 6pc on profits between £12,570 and £50,270, and 2pc above £50,270.
Labour say in their manifesto that they will not increase National Insurance, the basic, higher or additional rates of Income Tax, or VAT.
They say they want to make the tax system fairer by abolishing non-dom status, which is a UK resident whose permanent home for tax purposes is outside the country. This means they only pay UK tax on the money they earn in this country, and do not have to pay tax on the money they make elsewhere in the world.
Candy Richards, development manager for East Anglia at the Federation of Small Businesses, said both parties pledges not to increase National Insurance is "welcome news".
"Small businesses in the East of England have faced prolonged cost pressures and rising wage bills, eating into their already slim margins," she said.
"Tourism and hospitality is a major sector in the East and one that has really struggled, largely because of the impact the cost-of-living crisis is having on household budgets, squeezing out discretionary spending.
"We need to see a radical improvement in the growth of our economy to stimulate spending and give businesses the confidence to invest and grow.
"As part of this, the next government must also make a commitment to reform business rates, increase the VAT threshold to £100,000, and take action on late payments."
Homes
The Conservatives have ambitious plans to build 1.6 million new homes in England in the next five years.
Through its Help to Buy Scheme, they say they will provide first-time buyers with an equity loan of 20pc towards the cost of a new home.
They also pledge to permanently get rid of stamp duty tax – a tax paid when buying a property - for first-time buyers of properties costing up to £425,000.
Labour’s plans are equally ambitious, with a goal to build 1.5 million homes in England in five years – 300,000 a year.
However, in the last 12 months fewer than 150,000 homes were started, and in the last decade an average of 152,000 homes have been built a year.
And for renters, both parties are committed to banning no-fault evictions.
Flagship Group is the East of England’s largest social housing provider.
Adrian Barber, managing director of Victory Homes, one of Flagship's three housing associations, said it is encouraging to see both parties addressing the housing crisis.
He said: “The country desperately needs more homes for social or affordable rent – what used to be known as council housing – so we’d urge the next government to make that a priority.
“In the east of England alone there are 89,500 households on the social housing waiting list, and 9,600 children living in often unsuitable or overcrowded temporary accommodation.
"Banning no-fault evictions would give renters more security and stability. However, one issue we have in Norfolk particularly is private landlords opting to use homes for holiday accommodation or selling them because of the threat of the no-fault evictions ban.
“The result is fewer homes available. It’s really hard to balance the importance of security for tenants with the ability of the landlord to sell homes.
"Aspiring homeowners would no doubt welcome a return of Help to Buy, but we need to increase supply by keeping up the pace of housebuilding in order to make housing more affordable.
“Flagship’s aim is to solve the housing crisis in the East, but we can’t do it alone. We look forward to working with the next government to make meaningful progress."
Education and apprenticeships
Rishi Sunak says the Conservatives will scrap “Mickey Mouse” university degrees, getting rid of “rip-off” courses with high drop-out rates and ones that leave graduates no better off.
They say this will fund 100,000 apprenticeships by the end of the next parliament.
Labour plans to raise £8bn through various revenue raising measures, including applying 20pc VAT to private school fees to fund 6,500 extra teachers in state schools.
Currently 7pc of children attend private fee-paying schools in the UK.
Douglas Robb, headmaster of Gresham’s School in Holt, was critical of the Labour policy.
"I don’t think it is about education, I think it is a policy to placate the left-wing of the Labour Party so Keir Starmer can have some credibility with his more left-wing colleagues," he said.
"I think it will be divisive and a reasonably large number of young children will lose out attending the schools they have attended up until now.
"The misconception about the sector is that everyone who attends a private school is really rich. It will force estimates of 10 to 30pc of parents out of the sector and so what you will get is a significant number of kids who will be forced to change school through no fault of their own.
"They shouldn’t be forced to change school because of a political bone to chuck to the left-wing of the Labour Party.
"If a child leaves the independent sector the government will lose out on the VAT that the parents would have paid and the government then has to pay for that child to attend the maintained sector, which is about £7,000 a year. If they have to move to a school that is already full how do you fund the extra facilities and teachers?
"The people that Labour hate more than anybody else are the entitled Tory politicians who went to a certain school in the south of England near Windsor, but those families are the people who will be least affected by this because those families can afford to pay the extra VAT.
"It’s a vindictive, nasty policy, but it is there because Starmer has to say to the left-wing of the party that he can do something about injustice, class, bias and entitlement. It’s a political statement.
"The ones who are already struggling to pay the fees are those who will struggle to pay the extra 20pc."
Energy
The Conservative promise to treble offshore wind and approve new small modular nuclear power stations.
Labour say they will spend £23.7bn on green measures during the next parliament - £1.7bn a year.
They plan to set up Great British Energy, a state-owned energy company, and create 650,000 jobs by 2030 - 56,000 in the East.
They have also pledged £1.1bn a year to improve the energy efficiency of homes, as well as banning petrol and diesel car sales from 2030 - bringing forward the current government's 2035 deadline.
Kevin Keable, chair of the East of England Energy Group (EEEGR), said: "The development of energy projects in this region is worth multi-billions of pounds to our economy and tens of thousands of jobs.
"The next government needs to work with our industry to review planning laws – it can take decades for an energy infrastructure project to come to fruition and all the time we are continuing to burn fossil fuels to create electricity and heat our homes.
"It also needs to work with industry to ensure that there is stability in the electricity pricing regime and long term investment in renewable energy projects; continue to develop our regional ports and infrastructure so that the offshore wind opportunities can be fully exploited; and not stop working with the gas industry, despite the race to Net Zero.
"It needs to work with industry to provide skills, starting in schools - there are a plethora of jobs in the energy industry, not all of them requiring STEM subjects - and work with industry to enhance the local supply chain.
"The energy industry will continue to be a very important part of this region’s economy. We have a huge opportunity ahead of us, we should not delay getting these projects all moving in the right direction."
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel