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Chancellor John Healey is set to unveil a £150m fund for companies in the north of England as part of a wider plan to generate more economic growth around the UK. In a speech on Monday, he is expected to outline his proposal to boost development by using public investment to attract private capital. The speech comes against a challenging backdrop as the chancellor faces pressures ahead of his first Budget on 28 October, including concerns about a jump in government borrowing costs and the inflationary impact of the Iran war.
Healey will announce a new £150m allocation from the British Business Bank, offering support to the most innovative and fast-growing firms. The fund, from money already allocated to the British Business Bank, will provide investments of between £5m and £15m, expected to back university spin-outs and other ambitious businesses across the north. He is expected to say: 'The prime minister laid out a clear diagnosis of what has gone wrong in the past. The solution is a fundamental shift that starts with putting power in the right places. The next chapter of Britain's growth story will be written in more places.'
Helen Miller, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies, said economic growth in every postcode sounds great but would be harder to achieve in practice, particularly in less developed areas. During his first Prime Minister's Questions, Andy Burnham faced scrutiny over rising UK borrowing costs. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch urged him to address the UK's increasing debt, while Shadow Chancellor Andrew Griffith criticized Healey's plan, stating it would do little to comfort hard-working families and businesses worried about tax rises and borrowing rates. Reform UK's economic spokesman, Robert Jenrick, criticized Healey's lack of economic direction amid market instability. Liberal Democrat deputy leader Daisy Cooper noted the fund's limited impact on regional growth.
Source: BBC
