Tag: Press Release

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 5 November 1999.

The choice of London as the location for NASDAQ-Europe is excellent news for the City of London and for the wider economy said the Chancellor Gordon Brown today.

The Chancellor was speaking this morning following a meeting with NASDAQ and its partners where they told him of their decision to launch a joint venture to create a pan-European securities market.

The Chancellor said:

“The City of London is one of the largest and most highly regarded financial centres in the world. It thrives on competition and innovation and offers an extremely attractive environment for internationally mobile financial services businesses.

“NASDAQ’s decision to locate its European exchange here represents a massive vote of confidence in the City. NASDAQ-Europe will strengthen the UK financial services industry and reinforce London’s position as one of the world’s top international financial centres.

“And NASDAQ’s presence here will be good for the wider economy too, not just in the UK but Europe as a whole. Job creation and economic growth depend on efficient capital markets channelling funds to businesses to finance their expansion. This is more than ever true in the Internet economy.

“NASDAQ has a tremendous record of raising capital for growth companies as well as being an innovative and entrepreneurial business in its own right. I therefore very much welcome NASDAQ’s decision to set up its pan-European stock exchange in London.”

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 3 November 1999.

The London Stock Exchange’s new technology market – Techmark was launched today by the Chancellor Gordon Brown.

Techmark will be the London Stock Exchange’s ‘market within a market’ for innovative technological companies. It aims to meet the investment requirements of technological companies already listed on the LSE main market and those who may be thinking about flotation.

Welcoming the launch of Techmark, the Chancellor said:

“I welcome the launch of Techmark – a new market for the new generation of dynamic entrepreneurs whose success depends on innovation. It is designed to meet the unique needs of technology companies – from those already listed on London’s markets to those thinking about a flotation.

“Bringing together companies with a shared commitment to technological innovation, Techmark emphasises the importance of new technology. And by including FTSE fledgling companies alongside FTSE 100 companies, it recognises that the new companies of today can be the leading companies of tomorrow.

“So with the launch of Techmark, new growing companies have a quicker route to the main market and wider access to the investors on which their growth and success depends.”

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 2 November 1999.

Important amendments to achieve greater clarity and certainty in the definition of market abuse in the Financial Services and Markets Bill currently before Parliament were announced by Economic Secretary Melanie Johnson today.

The government amendments, agreed by the Standing Committee on the Bill, will :

• introduce additional protections for those who:
• take care not to commit market abuse
• reasonably believe that their behaviour is not abusive
• act in conformity with FSA rules, eg on price stabilisation.
• make it clear that behaviour can only be penalised if it is not in accordance with what a regular user of the market would reasonably expect.

Miss Johnson said:

“Market abuse is bad for the markets and bad for the UK economy. We are determined to be tough on abusers. The action we are taking in the Financial Services and Markets Bill is essential to protect the integrity of UK financial markets. This is in all our interests.

“We have listened carefully to concerns about the need for the Bill to be as clear and as fair as possible, including the views of the Joint Committee under Lord Burns. These amendments reflect close consultation with the industry and market experts and also the recommendations of the Joint Committee. The changes make sure that people can only be penalised for market abuse when their behaviour fails to meet what a regular user of the market would consider to be expected market standards.”

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 2 November 1999.

Encouraging enterprise has got a vital role to play in generating jobs and helping to build stronger communities, Stephen Timms and Patricia Hewitt said today.

They were speaking at the launch of a new report, Enterprise and Social Exclusion, produced by Policy Action Team 3, in response to the Social Exclusion Unit’s publication last year on deprived neighbourhoods.

The report sets out a new agenda for Government, banks, business support agencies and others to link enterprise and regeneration – through better advice and access to finance, and more support for a culture of enterprise.

Stephen Timms, Financial Secretary to the Treasury and Champion Minister for the PAT, said:

“We need more new and successful businesses in our least well off communities. People who have a business idea, and want to make a go of it, need to get the right support to give them the best chance of success. And existing firms need to be able to get advice and finance to help them prosper.

“This report sets out an ambitious agenda to promote enterprise as a force against social exclusion. It recognises that not everyone will have the skills or aptitude to run a business. But everyone with the potential to succeed needs to be given the opportunity to do so.

“There’s more that can be done by all the parties with a stake here to
give enterprise in deprived areas the attention it deserves – and the report makes some clear proposals. Some recommendations have already been implemented, and we’ll be looking closely at the rest. Much of the work going forward will fall to DTI, and I know Patricia Hewitt is relishing the task.

“I see this report as a contribution not just to the debate on social exclusion but also to the Government’s broad agenda for an enterprise society. Enterprise is an outlook, an attitude of mind, that needs to be encouraged right across society, and the proposals here are about one facet of that broader task.”

Patricia Hewitt, Minister for Small Business at the DTI, said:

“The job of the SBS is to provide top class support to start-ups and SMEs right across the country. That must include our most disadvantaged communities.

“There is just as much entrepreneurial potential in the poorest council estates as in the wealthiest suburbs.”

The key recommendations are:

Better support for enterprise

• the new Small Business Service should promote enterprise in deprived areas, as part of its remit to promote small business;
• Business Links should develop plans with others to support enterprise and business growth in deprived areas;
• incubators should be encouraged – they can add real value in building successful businesses;
• Regional Development Agencies should advise the SBS on regional priorities, and ensure regeneration programmes give real weight to developing enterprise.

Better access to finance

Steps to promote innovation in getting finance to enterprise in deprived communities:

• a national challenge fund to provide capital to community finance initiatives – who act as a bridge between mainstream institutions and entrepreneurs in deprived communities
• access to the Government’s loan guarantee scheme, on an experimental basis, to encourage commercial lending to community finance initiatives

Removing barriers

• social enterprises to be recognised as a group of businesses deserving support
• self-employment is a valid route from benefits to work, and should be recognised as such
• Government to promote involvement of mainstream businesses in deprived communities.

Two recommendations have already been agreed:

• Patricia Hewitt announced on 20 September the creation of a national network of volunteer business mentors, funded by DTI;
• the Bank of England has agreed to monitor the provision of finance for business in deprived groups and communities, and to report regularly on this.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 21 December 1999.

The Government is to lift the burden of debt owed to the UK by the world’s poorest countries, the Chancellor Gordon Brown and International Development Secretary Clare Short announced today.

The commitment covers all debt owed to the Government’s Export Credit Guarantee Department (ECGD) by the 41 Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPCs), including debt which falls outside the terms of the multilateral debt agreements. Britain’s debt relief package to the world’s poorest countries now totals over £5 billion.

The Chancellor, speaking at a Downing Street seminar attended by religious leaders and heads of non-governmental organisations, said:

“For too long these countries have been weighed down by the shackles of an unsustainable debt burden. I want these countries to go into the new millennium free from these shackles and able to invest for the good of their people – in health and education.

“The UK has played a leading part in securing a multilateral deal on debt relief that will reduce the debts of these countries by two-thirds. The time is now right to take the extra step on our own and to lift the burden of the remaining debt owed to us. I have therefore taken the decision that we will remove the burden of debt to the UK government of all countries that come through the HIPC process.

“The Government is satisfied that the conditions of debt relief applied under HIPC are sufficient to guarantee that monies freed up will be spent on social programmes and poverty reduction.”

The Chancellor said that he hoped other countries would match the UK’s commitment and enable the world community to make even further progress on debt relief before the end of the millennium.

Stressing the link between debt relief and poverty relief, Clare Short said:

“Debt relief is crucial if we are to achieve the levels of poverty reduction to which we and the whole international community are committed. Through this new action Britain is continuing to lead international efforts to reduce the debt burden of the poorest countries and to ensure that the money saved will be spent on health and education services for some of the poorest people in the world.”

The Chancellor also said that he expected the Boards of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank to be announcing later that day a timetable of the first countries to receive debt relief under the enhanced HIPC initiative early in the new year. The timetable, he hoped, would include early relief for countries such as Uganda, Bolivia and Mauritania and up to seven more countries to be brought forward before the IMF’s Spring Meetings in April.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 9 December 1999.

Some of the UK’s leading entrepreneurs today joined the Chancellor Gordon Brown in a call for 1000 business ‘heroes’ to join a campaign to encourage enterprise and more entrepreneurial activity in the UK.

Alan Sugar (Amstrad), James Dyson (Dyson Technology), Martha Lane-Fox (lastminute.com) and Reuben Singh (RS Holdings) launched the call for ‘ business heroes’ at the final Alan Sugar roadshow in London.

The National Enterprise Campaign, is being coordinated by the British Chambers of Commerce in partnership with government, key business organisations including the Institute of Directors and CBI, and support organisations such as Young Enterprise and the Princes Trust. It will be launched in Spring 2000. Its aim is to create a cadre of business ‘heroes’ – successful entrepreneurs and directors/managers from UK companies of all sizes – to spearhead activities to encourage enterprise and a more entrepreneurial culture throughout the country.

In addition to the entrepreneurs at the launch Virgin Boss, Richard Branson, Prue Leith, Dr Chris Evans of Merlin Scientific and Simon Woodroffe of YO! Sushi have also signed up to the campaign.

The Chancellor said:

“We want to encourage those who start with nothing – and who, in the past, thought they could never reach higher – that there is not only a chance to do better but that there is no limit to their ambitions. The National Enterprise Campaign will seek to create a more entrepreneurial culture, by transforming attitudes developing skills and encouraging the formation of new businesses.

“The sharpest spur to the enterprise of the young is the example of enterprise by others. I am delighted that we have some of Britain’s top business leaders involved in the campaign to help tomorrow’s entrepreneurs achieve success.”

Stephen Byers, Secretary of State for Trade and Industry said:

“I am pleased to announce that my department will be contributing £60,000 for the first stage of the National Enterprise Campaign.
“A strong culture of enterprise is vital if Britain is to succeed in this global economy and this Campaign will play an essential part in helping to cretae this.”

Chris Humphries, Director General of the BCC said:

“This network of entrepreneurs will act as the campaign’s ‘Heroes for Enterprise’. They will come from a wide range of backgrounds, ages and types of business, and will play a key role in promoting creativity, innovation and risk-taking. “

Entrepreneurs signing up to the Campaign will be essential in promoting and encouraging at all levels – nationally, regionally and locally – the importance and value of enterprise and entrepreneurship.

By participating in the Campaign, they will be able to make a real difference by helping to:

• change attitudes towards enterprise and entrepreneurship;
• develop a new generation of entrepreneurs; and
• build the reputation of business.

Being one of the Campaign’s ‘heroes’ is not a demanding role – it will involve people making three simple commitments:

• allowing their name to be used as a public supporter of the aims of the Campaign;
• promoting participation among other business people in the programmes and activities of Campaign partners – including Young Enterprise, Prince’s Trust – Business, Shell Livewire and Understanding Industry; and
• being willing to participate in other events in their area at which they would speak, honestly and from the heart, on the excitement, challenges and satisfaction of being an entrepreneur.

The ‘heroes’ network is being developed with the Institute of Directors and will build on their successful HUB business ambassador programme.

Entrepreneurs and business people interested in lending their support to the Campaign should e-mail the address below or write to Enterprising Britain, The British Chambers of Commerce, Manning House, 22 Carlisle Place, London, SW1P 1JA.

The speech made by Andrew Smith, the then Chief Secretary to the Treasury, on 7 December 1999.

Introduction

Thank you all for being here and allowing me the opportunity to address this gathering of key public and private sector players in the field of PFI and other public private partnerships. I know many of you here have been waiting for the opportunity to contribute to the consultation process on the setting up of Partnerships UK and there will be ample opportunity to do that later on this morning. I want to start this conference, however, by explaining our approach to public private partnerships. I hope it will put Partnerships UK into context.

Public private partnerships are a cornerstone in building public services for the twenty first century – an approach for equipping the public services to meet the challenges they face for many years to come.

Our partnerships are already a great success story, arousing interest from all over the world. But we now need to maximise their contribution to our modernisation programme. To do so, we need to enlist the best possible skills and expertise so that we deliver value for money and public services fit for the twenty first century.

Drawing the best from public and private sectors

Public sector

In the past, Governments were judged on what they owned and how much they spent rather than the services they delivered. Today, that has changed – for the better I believe. In the modern world our focus now, in all that we do, has to be on outcomes not on inputs – the products of our spending, not just the size of our investment or the scale of our ownership.

Arguments about whether public ownership is always best or whether privatisation is the only answer are arguments for the history books. Today we see the debate as a mistaken legacy. Because today Labour recognises that the only way we can deliver the modern, high quality public services the public want and increasingly expect is by drawing on the best of both public and private sectors.

To do this, we need to first recognise the fundamental roles of Government. In their fevered pursuit of privatisation, the previous Government never fully recognised or accommodated this.

First and foremost, Government is the collective purchaser of public services, providing democratic accountability for service choices, monitoring and enforcing service standards, and safeguarding public interest issues.
The Government has clear responsibility for these objectives and seeing that they are delivered to the standards required. We believe that public private partnerships must be founded on this principle.

Indeed, public private partnerships enable responsibility for many elements of service delivery to be transferred to the private sector. And at the same time the public sector retains responsibility for:

• deciding on the right level of public services, and the public sector resources which are available to pay for them; and
• setting and monitoring quality and performance standards for delivery of the services and taking action if these standards are not met.

And in the case of state-owned businesses, public private partnerships enable the Government to bring the private sector into the ownership and management of the business while at the same time it remains responsible for safeguarding public interest issues.

Public private partnerships also recognise what the public sector can bring to the table in terms of the skills and dedication of its workforce; its assets and businesses, and its ideas and intellectual property. Our Wider Markets Policy is aimed at making the most of public assets such as scientific research, not just to obtain greater value for the public purse but also for wider economic benefit.

Private sector

But how often do we see this potential wasted? That is where the private sector and public private partnerships can help the public sector to deliver modernised public services.

(i) commercial incentives

First, the private sector provides commercial incentives. Private sector organisations either generate profits or they die (unless of course you are an internet stock!). The realities of the market place exert powerful incentives on private sector management and employees to maximise efficiency and take full advantage of business opportunities.

But these disciplines can never be fully replicated in the public sector, where there are many complex and diffuse policy objectives to consider in addition to the need for delivering value for money, and many more stakeholders to consult.

Public private partnerships enable the Government to harness the disciplines of the private sector, by introducing private sector investors who put their own capital at risk. In this way, public private partnerships are helping to improve value for money, so enabling the Government to provide more public services and to a higher standard.

(ii) a focus on customer requirements

Secondly, the private sector can also encourage the public sector to focus more clearly on the needs of customers. Private sector businesses are more adept at looking for innovative ways of enhancing their services, and adapting to changing requirements and expectations.

(iii) new and innovative approaches

Thirdly, the search for new opportunities to develop profitable business provides the private sector with an incentive to innovate and try out new ideas – this in turn can lead to better value services, delivered more flexibly and to a higher standard.

(iv) business and management expertise

Finally, the private sector brings specialised skills – skills to help manage the enormous and complex investment process that is now underway in IT, in transport and in other services across the public sector; skills to assess the commercial opportunities of potential business venture; skills to focus on delivery to customers; and skills to innovate.

The disciplines, incentives, skills and expertise of the private sector can help release the full potential of the people, knowledge and assets in the public sector, enabling the Government to deliver its objectives better.

Implementing the vision

Our ambition is to deliver public services which will be the envy of the world. This will never happen if we undermine our public services. We believe in our public services and that is exactly why we are modernising them. Modern services which recognise the Government’s responsibilities, and which employ the best of both the public and private sectors.

We have already had one step change in the delivery of public service infrastructure since this Government came into power. Over the last two and a half years, we have fundamentally reformed PFI. By prioritising projects, ending universal testing, offering a fairer deal to staff and standardising contracts, we have streamlined PFI and put it on a more sustainable and successful basis.

The flow of deals has risen rapidly as a result. In less than 2 years contracts with a combined value approaching £5 bn have been signed compared with £4 bn over the whole of the previous Parliament. PFI will generate some £11 billion worth of new investment over the period 1999/00 to 2001/02.
The next step is to use the new PFI to drive forward our modernisation programme. This means expanding the PFI and applying it in sectors where it has not been extensively used before and enabling smaller projects to combine so PFI is a more cost-effective option. In order to implement this vision of a greater volume and effectiveness of partnerships, we need to develop further the right skill base in the public sector. We need to be a better, more intelligent, more effective partner, client and procurer of private sector services.

We need to be able to:

• specify with more clarity our requirements and ensure they are enshrined in the partnership
• understand better what we can and cannot expect the private sector to deliver and what risks we can expect them to take
• obtain better value, not necessarily with lower returns for the private sector, but with better structured deals
• overall, implement PFI deals more quickly and more effectively
• and critically as PFI is about long term partnerships, to be a better manager of long term contracts with the private sector.

As is commonly acknowledged, there is also something of a gap in the private sector’s understanding of the operations, decision making, accountability, and other requirements of the public sector.

Delivering better partnerships will require bridging the gap between the skills base of the public sector and the private sector’s understanding of public sector requirements. Partnerships UK is one of the mechanisms with which we expect to do this. It will itself, of course, be a novel public private partnership.

Partnerships UK

Following Malcolm Bates’ second review of PFI which reported back in Spring, we announced our intention to set up Partnerships UK to help us in the public sector improve the way we work with the private sector in PFI projects. It will offer to the public sector, the key commercial skills which we need to forge better partnerships with the private sector, on equal terms.

Partnerships UK will fill a unique role – there is nothing to equal it in the private sector – of addressing the weaknesses, particularly in terms of skills and commercial experience within Government. It will be a co-venturer strengthening the public sector client in a transaction.

PUK will help the public sector raise its game in the same way the Treasury Taskforce has done. And together with PUK, the public sector can become a much more effective client, which should mean more opportunities for everyone – more deals, lower costs and greater clarity and speed in PPP deals.

As a part of PUK’s business planning process, we have been discussing within Government a range of circumstances in which it might play a role. Let me give you a few examples. In the education sector, Glasgow City Council is seeking to replicate the success if its current PFI scheme for its secondary schools estate; and three English local authorities are considering working together on what are essentially similar schemes in different authorities. The Department of Health is considering an innovative approach to bundle up the development of primary and intermediate care centres.

In addition to its role in PFI which may be more familiar to you, we expect Partnerships UK to also help us implement transactions in our Wider Markets policy to use public sector assets. There are two-three pilot projects that are already being considered for PUK. For example, the Forensic Sciences Service is working with the Treasury Taskforce on a project to realise the commercial potential, especially overseas, of its very advanced crime detection technology. British Waterways is considering a scheme where its canal network, technical capability and local knowledge could provide infrastructure to transfer water from places of surplus to places of shortage.

These are few of the 25 or so projects that have been identified so far in the development of Partnerships UK’s business plan. All of them have involve a significant degree of innovation which is an important part of PUK’s mandate. It will not only improve deal flow in existing PFI sectors but open up new sectors and develop new models of public private co-operation.

The Treasury has employed Rothschilds and Herbert Smith to advise it on the development of Partnerships UK. A Steering Group – containing representatives from both the public and private sectors – has been overseeing the development of the business case, making sure that PUK will bring benefits for all the stakeholders in PPPs.

I am pleased to announce that yesterday, the second reading of the Government Resources and Accounts Bill in the House of Commons put public accounts on a proper accrual basis and also allowed for the establishment of Partnerships UK.

I am also delighted to be able to announce today the role of Derek Higgs, Chairman of Prudential Portfolio Managers, as Chairman Designate of Partnerships UK. Derek needs no introduction for all of you. We are very pleased indeed to have his support and expertise in guiding us through the next critical phase in the launch of Partnerships UK. He will of course work with Adrian Montague who I am also very pleased to announce has accepted the position of Deputy Chairman designate.

Conclusion

I am confident we have the right team at the helm to drive forward what this Government sees as crucial policy for delivering front line services and the second step change in the flow of PFI deals since we came into Government. We are, as planned, on schedule for Partnership UK’s launch in the Spring.

We have been supported and advised in consultations by many representative organisations involved in PFI. The conference today provides you with another opportunity to give us your views on the further work that has been done. We look forward to a continued dialogue with you and to your support in creating a unique body – one which holds out the exciting prospect of real benefit to public and private sectors in helping to create for Britain a world class infrastructure.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 7 December 1999.

Derek Higgs is to be Chairman Designate of Partnerships (PUK), Andrew Smith, Chief Secretary to the Treasury announced today. Adrian Montague will be Deputy Chairman Designate.

PUK will be a company with a majority of its shares held in the private sector. The appointment of a Chairman and Deputy Chairman will be a matter for its shareholders. These shareholders are expected to be in place in Spring 2000. The Chairman Designate and Deputy Chairman Designate will participate in the precess of establishing PUK.

Speaking at a conference in London, Andrew Smith said:

“Derek and Adrian are a strong and complementary team. Derek is highly respected in the City and in the wider business community. Adrian has led the Treasury Taskforce with distinction and is highly regarded in the public sector.”

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 2 December 1999.

A package of measures to help entrepreneurs succeed in deprived areas was set out today by the Chancellor Gordon Brown and the Financial Secretary Stephen Timms.

The package is designed to ensure that enterprise is opened up to everyone in the UK. However, it is clear that many entrepreneurs in deprived areas have been barred from access to finance, support and advice.

To ensure that entrepreneurs from deprived areas have access to the managerial and business training they need to succeed, Stephen Timms set out details of a new management scholarship. The details are:

• the scholarships will be aimed specifically at entrepreneurs from deprived areas;
• initially, up to 200 scholarships will be available;
• allow budding entrepreneurs access to top class business and management education to equip them with the skills needed to turn their ideas into thriving businesses;
• in partnership with business, the Government plans to offer up to £20,000 of start-up funding to the most promising scholars (the top 10-20) to get their businesses off to a flying start.

Commenting on the scholarships Mr Timms said:

“People in deprived areas have the ideas and business acumen to succeed but they are deprived of the opportunity to put them into practice. The Government wants to ensure enterprise is open to all.

“This will ensure that Britain benefits fully from the entrepreneurial potential of people and businesses whatever their background and wherever they are.”

This is only one of the measures announced in the Pre-Budget report that aim to open up enterprise to all.

Speaking later tonight at the Young Entrepreneur of the Year Awards Dinner, the Chancellor will say:

“We want to ensure that young people receive positive messages about enterprise throughout their education and acquire more entrepreneurial skills.”

Commenting on the scholarships scheme Richard Branson said:

“Entrepreneurs are the drivers of innovation and the providers of future wealth and employment. We must do all we can to support them, so I welcome these new scholarships. They will give the management and business training people need to turn their ideas into reality.”

Professor Andrew Lock – Chairman of the association of Business Schools and the Business Schools Small Firms Advisory Group, Pro-Vice Chancellor of Manchester Metropolitan University also welcomed the intention to establish these scholarships:

“The commitment to help entrepreneurs is essential if we are to support these individuals in achieving their business aims. I and other members of the Business Schools Small Firms Advisory group, look forward to working with the Government in developing these scholarships, which we feel will be a significant step in providing entrepreneurs with the skills they need to succeed.”

Other measures involve schools and businesses developing a new enterprise culture among young people. This includes a £10 million package of measures starting nest year which include:

• £5 million to improve the network which brings school and businesses together;
• £3 million to improve that quality of work experience for 14-15 year olds and the quality of teacher placements in business; and
• £2 million to help double the number of young people involved in enterprise programmes such as Young Enterprise and Understanding Industry to around 200,000 by summer 2001.

At the dinner the Chancellor also set out measures to encourage businesses from deprived areas to succeed. These will include a £30 million programme – the Phoenix Fund – which will promote better access to advice, support and finance for businesses in deprived areas. The Fund will involve:

• a new Development Fund to promote innovative ways of supporting enterprise in deprived areas such as business incubator units; and
• funding for local finance intermediaries to provide micro-finance for enterprises. These organisations act as intermediaries between mainstream finance and entrepreneurs in deprived areas.
• A national network of mentors is also to be established to give help, encouragement and face to face contact to entrepreneurs.

The Chancellor will also say:

“To encourage new businesses, it is essential we harness the talents of all our citizens. We are determined to ensure that there are more and new successful businesses in our least well-off communities.”

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 2 December 1999.

The UK’s continuing commitment to promoting economic reform in all areas of the economy and to ensuring the reforms benefit consumers through more choice, better quality and lower prices was set out today in a joint report from the Chancellor Gordon Brown and Minister for Energy and Competitiveness in Europe Helen Liddell.

The Progress Report on Product, Services and Capital Markets sets out four main aims for reform. These are:

• strengthening competition;
• encouraging enterprise and innovation;
• improving conditions for investment; and
• enhancing public sector productivity.

Gordon Brown said:

“The UK has a clear strategy to tackle the productivity gap with our main competitors and address long-standing weaknesses in the UK economy. The aim is to create a strong and productive economy with high and stable rates of growth and employment, both of which are vital for raising living standards.”

Helen Liddell said:

“This report shows the value of our economic reform agenda. The reforms to our product, service and capital markets are designed to promote more competitive, innovative, open and flexible markets which enable firms to grow and deliver a better deal for the consumer. It is about lower prices and better products and services.”

The report provides a further update on specific examples of UK policies where reform is in progress. These include:

• the new Competition Act – which will mean tougher action on firms engaging in anti-competitive practices so as to stimulate competitive markets and so bring benefits to consumers and businesses;
• the energy market – where liberalisation is delivering price cuts to consumers and businesses, and regulation is being reformed to focus on the needs of the consumer, to promote competition and to improve transparency and accountability;
• electronic commerce – where the Government aims to give everyone the chance to make the best use of the Internet;
• R&D – where the Government is introducing a new tax relief to encourage investment;
• financial services – where on-going reform will improve the regulatory system and protect investors whilst taking account of market developments and competitive concerns; and
• venture capital – where the Government is introducing a new Enterprise Fund.

The Progress Report, produced annually by Member States at the request of the Cardiff European Council, provides an update on action to reform product, services and capital markets to strengthen competition, encourage enterprise, innovation and investment, enhance public sector productivity, and to ensure reforms benefit consumers through more choice, better quality and lower prices. In line with the procedure agreed at Cardiff during the UK Presidency, it highlights areas of best practice as well as those areas where the UK can learn from others.