Tag: Treasury

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.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 1 December 1999.

Joint action to tackle the problems of poverty and improve the economy were announced by the Chancellor Gordon Brown, Scotland’s First Minister Donald Dewar and Scottish Secretary John Reid.

Three Joint Action Committees (JAC) will be established under the Memorandum of Understanding, which provides for the establishment of a Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC) and Sub Committees.

The JMC was set up specifically to consider non-devolved matters which impinge on devolved matters and devolved matters which impinge on non-devolved responsibilities.

The mechanism is being triggered today to set up three JACs which will cover the areas of:

• pensioner poverty;
• child poverty; and
• the Knowledge economy.

The Chancellor said:

“The delivery of devolution has dealt with the democratic deficit. We must now turn to the real economic and social issues where the case for joint action is overwhelming.

“The only way we can tackle the problems of poverty and unemployment successfully is by joint action.”

The Secretary of State for Scotland has responsibility for ensuring effective working relations between the Government and the Scottish Executive and for promoting the devolution settlement.  He said:

“The devolution settlement was not just a Constitutional exercise, but was always intended to make real improvements to people’s lives. We are determined to attack poverty and promote the knowledge economy with every means at our disposal. This can only be achieved by the UK Government and Scottish Executive working in partnership to deliver the policies that will bring real benefits to the people of Scotland.”

The First Minister, Donald Dewar said:

“Only by working through this new constitutional framework can we best deliver for the people of Scotland. The Joint Action Committees will give the Scottish Executive and the Scottish Parliament greater responsibility for the allocation and coordination of resources and the delivery of services that are vital for the future of Scotland.”

The speech made by Gordon Brown, the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, at Davos, Switzerland, on 29 January 1999.

This morning I want to suggest that economic progress in 1999 and 2000 depends on us learning the right and not the wrong lessons from Mexico 1994, Asia 1997, Russia 1998 and Brazil 1999.

In other words there should be no retreat from global markets even as world growth has halved.

There should be no retreat into protectionism even under the provocation of trade balances worsening by $20 billion.

And there should be no repeat of the inadequate risk management, less than responsible lending and inefficient allocation of capital that gave us, even in countries pursuing good policies, emerging market spreads that swung to 1700 basis points from an equally unsustainable 200 basis points in a matter of days.

Economic progress depends therefore on first an unwavering commitment to open markets and world trade liberalisation, with an early start to the new world trade organisation talks.

Second, with America and now Europe as engines of growth, continuing the coordinated approach to growth-oriented policies begun among the leading countries in October 1998.

Third, making the macroeconomic measures work, both within firms and within economies, by proper systems of risk management and supervision and regulation.

And finally, because it should never be said of the world community, as it was said of a British politician, that “he never failed to miss a change to let slip an opportunity”, seize the opportunity to press ahead with implementing the programme of international economic reform agreed last year.

I believe we are agreed on four major changes:

First, that we should implement codes of conduct on monetary, fiscal and corporate standards as an entry requirement for the international financial system, and we should do so by April, when the IMF and world bank meetings take place; And this matters not only for Asia, exposed for lack of transparency; for Brazil, seeking a credible policy; even for Nigeria now starting again; and also for Europe with monetary and fiscal policy.

Second, recognising we have a global not just national financial system, that we should have a global framework for national and international regulators, to conduct regular surveillance of our world financial system and be its early warning system, and that we should have this in place by summer;

Third, we should develop new crisis prevention mechanisms, based on rights and responsibilities, with the private sector fully involved in country investor networks; and we should make the decision in principle by the summer and have intensive discussions to reach conclusions by the end of the year. Finally there should be a new strengthening of our international institutions and that should include the new social code of conduct that sets minimum standards for tackling unemployment, ill health, poor education, a necessary means to build trust and support for economic reform.

So in a world that has seen in the last year Russia default, Indonesia undergo revolution, Japan nationalise some of its banks and Hong Kong buy public stakes in private companies, we must not be so complacent or attempt to rebuild the present in the image of the past when the challenge is to map out a new future.

That future must involve burden-sharing – America with its strong economy embracing open markets; Europe with a stable euro sustaining growth and engaging in structural reform to tackle unemployment; Japan with its critical regional role reviving growth and reforming its banking system; and all of us playing our full part by proceeding with economic reform. 1998 was a year of challenge when we decided on economic reform. 1999 must be the year of implementation.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 28 January 1999.

Economic Secretary Patricia Hewitt will visit India next week to promote business and financial links between the UK and India, and to discuss international financial developments. Accompanied by a team of UK business people, she will meet government representatives and leading figures from the business and financial community.

Looking forward to her visit, Ms Hewitt said :

“The economic, cultural and political connections between Britain and India go back hundreds of years. Today we are building a new partnership, made even closer by the increasingly successful Indian communities in Britain, which contribute so much to this country’s vibrant, multi-cultural society while retaining their ties of family, religion and trade with India.

“As a Member of Parliament in Leicester – where half of our young people are from the Asian and Afro-Caribbean communities – I am particularly pleased to play a role in developing ever closer ties between our Governments and our community, financial and business leaders.

“My visit to India will enable me to see first hand how businesses at the other end of this impressive global trading link are developing and thriving, particularly in financial services. I hope that, in joining Government and business representatives from the UK and India together in a constructive debate, I will help take this vital business agenda forward.” Speaking to the Confederation of Indian Business in New Delhi, Ms Hewitt will highlight the agenda for international financial reform that the UK government is pursuing with its international partners, and stress the importance of continued economic and financial reform at both a national and international level:

“Today’s global economy brings us great opportunities but also great challenges. No one country can be insulated from events in the rest of the world. National policy makers must set clear long-term policy objectives that build confidence and credibility.”

At a seminar on “London and the euro”, hosted by the British High Commission and the Indo-British Business Committee in Mumbai, Ms Hewitt will set out UK policy on the single currency and highlight the City of London’s continuing position as a major international financial centre:

“The City of London is a top world financial centre and remains the best place in the European time zone for doing business in euros. I am sure businesses in India and elsewhere in Asia recognise this, and will carrying on using the superb services it provides to our continuing mutual benefit.”

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 27 January 1999.

The Government’s approach to tackling the productivity challenge was outlined today in Leeds by the Chief Secretary Alan Milburn.

Speaking at the eighth in a series of joint national Productivity Roadshows, held at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Leeds University, he said:

“The Government is committed to seeing all the regions and nations of the UK sharing in sustainable economic prosperity. My presence here today is part of the Government’s commitment to consultation with businesses and local communities about how best we can achieve that. We have made a start, as shown by the fact that there are now 76,000 more jobs and nearly 15,000 people on the New Deal in the Yorkshire and Humberside area since the election. However, the productivity challenge we face as a country is serious. Our productivity is way behind that of our competitors. Success requires a long-term approach, a range of initiatives and policies to address the problems holding us back. I want today to look particularly at education and skills. The values of innovation and scientific expertise are well established here at the School of Mechanical Engineering but if we are to improve our productivity overall we require a skills revolution throughout the country. The successful modern economy is one based on information and knowledge.

That is why the Government has made investment in education our number one priority. Over the next three years we will be investing an additional 19 billion Pounds in education to deliver major improvements in literacy, numeracy, teaching standards and qualifications. And we are expanding the number of students in higher and further education by more than 500,000 by 2002. We are also looking in the Budget to offer tax relief to finance staff secondments from private sector companies to educational establishments, since as we signalled in the Pre-Budget Report, we are looking to see what more can be done to move the worlds of business and education closer together.”

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 26 January 1999.

The new Working Families Tax Credit (WFTC) will guarantee the lowest paid families a full-time income of around 10,000 Pounds a year, announced Paymaster General Dawn Primarolo today, easing both the poverty and unemployment trap.

The WFTC, which replaces Family Credit from October this year, will:

– benefit 1.3 million families;

– guarantee a full-time income of more than 190 Pounds per week;

– ensure, with a new childcare tax credit, that no family is denied the opportunity to work by being unable to access affordable quality childcare;

– help parents – whether lone parents or couples – with up to 70% of their childcare costs, up to a maximum of 100 Pounds a week for one child, and costs of 150 Pounds for two or more in eligible childcare.