South East Cambridgeshire MP Lucy Frazer MP welcomes support for businesses in Chancellor's statement.
South East Cambridgeshire has an amazingly diverse business community.
Just this year, I was invited to motion and gravity sensing firm, Silicon Microgravity; I welcomed the Duke of Edinburgh to the chocolate social enterprise, Harry Specters in Ely; and I hosted the farming minister at G’s Fresh in Barway.
However, common to all businesses in my constituency, regardless of sector, is the rise of inflation. Inflation has hiked costs, squeezed margins and created uncertainty for bosses planning to invest.
That is why the Prime Minister made halving it the first of his five priorities earlier this year.
The Autumn Statement included a range of measures to support households, businesses and the wider economy.
In his remarks, the Chancellor signalled that the Government is delivering on its main economic objectives. Inflation has been reduced from its peak of 11.1 per cent to 4.6 per cent while the economy is recovering faster than anticipated and borrowing is significantly lower than forecast.
Moreover, the OBR predicts that the measures announced by the Government recently will further reduce inflation in 2024 to close to the Bank of England target of 2 per cent.
In the meantime, I welcome that the Chancellor promised further financial relief for businesses, including an extension to business rates relief for eligible firms in the retail, hospitality and leisure sectors; a freeze to the small business rates multiplier; and the ability for companies to offset their capital investments to help boost growth.
There was also some good news for employees and the self-employed as National Insurance Contributions were cut, representing savings of hundreds of pounds per year for working people.
As the local MP, I am always looking for opportunities to engage with businesses or offer practical support.
At a recent business roundtable I hosted in Waterbeach, we discussed how to boost export capability, and as I visited shops on Soham and Ely High Street, we discussed how to tackle illegal on-street parking.
If you're a business manager looking for support, I would love to hear from you at: lucy.frazer.mp@parliament.uk.
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