In his 10th and almost certainly last pre-Budget report to MPs, the chancellor has put the environment and education at the top of his agenda.
Stakeholder Response: Woodland Trust
Dr James Cooper, head of government affairs for the Woodland Trust, said: "The measures to promote sustainable housing set out in the pre-Budget report are welcome, but the green tax measures set out are unlikely to achieve the kind of behavioural change which should be the purpose of well considered green taxation.
"The backdrop of the Barker report with its pro-development thrust also seems inconsistent with the green aspirations which were said to be informing this year’s PBR."
Stakeholder Response: Skillfast-UK
Linda Florance, chief executive of Skillfast-UK - the sector skills council for apparel, footwear and textiles - said: "We welcome the chancellor’s stated commitment to investment in skills – but it is important that the investment is made in the right areas if it is to make a difference.
"Our employers have made it very clear that millions of pounds of tax payers’ money are currently wasted on skills that do not support productivity or competitiveness.
"It is vital that employers – as users of the skills system - given the ability to determine what is, and what isn’t, supported by the public purse.
"Simply spending more money on the current mainstream education system, will not work.
"In our sector, £80m per year is spent on skills, yet only around 10 per cent of that investment actually delivers the skills our employers need.
"Our sector would like to see funding that is currently routed into courses that employers do not use, diverted into in-company training.
"This may mean a new role for further education colleges – providing support to companies who carry out training themselves in the workplace, rather than delivering training courses in the college classroom.
"The clothing, footwear and textile sector has seen massive change due to global competition, but still contributes over £10bn per year to the UK economy.
"We now compete in hi-tech, niche-market and fast-turnaround areas of the market, and it is essential we move towards a skills system that supports the industry’s development in these areas."
Stakeholder Response: Association of Chartered Certified Accountants
A spokesperson for the ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants) said: "ACCA supports vocational education and workplace learning, but we are concerned at the prospect of employers being burdened with the responsibility and cost of teaching staff basic literacy and numeracy skills.
"Businesses should not have to ‘mop up’ areas that should already be covered by the education system."
Stamp duty: "While an exemption for ‘carbon-zero’ new homes is welcome, we would have preferred the chancellor to have acknowledged the growing burden the stamp duty system is placing on all other home-buyers.
"Particularly wrong is his failure to raise thresholds in line with prices.
"The whole stamp duty system needs a root and branch revamp, not just a limited exemption like this.
HM Revenue and Customs: "We are concerned that HMRC’s call centres have already proved unable to cope with demand at peak times under the self assessment regime, so if a five per cent cut in workforce is to take place, HMRC must ensure that it has enough skilled staff to deal with front-line queries."
Green issues: "The Airline Passenger Duty (APD) rise represents a significant increase in environmental taxes.
"And after three years, the chancellor has finally thawed-out the fuel duty freeze.
"It is essential that the government commits to ‘hypothecating’ such green taxes so that they go to finance environmental issues.
"There should be transparency and accountability regarding these taxes and they must not be used just to finance general government expenditure."
On ISAs: "The government’s commitment to ISAs has been previously announced by Ed Balls, but ACCA is disappointed that ISA rates were not increased.
"New initiatives to tackle financial inclusion: ACCA is supportive of measures to tackle exclusion, but we are concerned that the government plans to offer the financially excluded credit products.
"With debt levels reaching an all time high, this needs to carefully planned and implemented."
Chas Roy-Chowdhury, head of tax at ACCA, said: "There were a vast array of anti-avoidance measures released after the chancellor’s speech, which shows yet again the lack of transparency of the Budget process.
"ACCA strongly calls for the establishment of an independent tax policy committee, which would drive tax changes - in exactly the same way as the planning committee which Brown announced in his speech."
Stakeholder Response: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development
Dr John Philpott, chief economist at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, said "Gordon Brown's 10th pre-Budget report as chancellor aims to equip the UK to cope with global competition and the threat of climate change.
"But while employers in all sectors will welcome the chancellor's ambitions for world class skills and innovation, public sector management faces a major task in delivering even tougher efficiency savings.
"The chancellor has set out his stall for when he leaves Number 11 to become prime minister.
"He can rightly claim to have recorded a decade of success on economic stability, jobs and fairness, though despite assertive rhetoric he must be disappointed that previous rafts of measures designed to boost UK productivity have delivered relatively little.
"In taking on the challenge posed by the ever growing economic strength of China and India, Brown is to be congratulated on making a start at implementing the recommendations of the Leitch Review of skills and promising major extensions of both Train to Gain and apprenticeships.
"Appointing former CBI director general Sir Digby Jones to spearhead the skills drive is a particularly smart move - though Sir Digby should immediately caution the chancellor against the threat of compulsion if fewer employers than hoped for decide to 'take the pledge' and commit to helping less skilled staff obtain basic qualifications.
"Sir Digby should also ensure that improving UK management and leadership skills figure high on his promotional agenda - unless we address the still relatively poor people management practices of UK plc world class skills won't easily translate into world class performance.
"Given a lack of thorough detail in the pre-Budget report we have to take the chancellor's word that the government has already achieved more than half the efficiency savings set out in the Gershon review.
"What is clear, however, is that in order to meet his plans for future large scale investment in key areas like education and skills without a deterioration in the underlying state of the public services, the drive for further efficiencies is set to intensify from next year onward.
"Annual efficiency savings of at least three per cent across Whitehall and local government and real cuts of five per cent per year in public sector administration will not come without pain.
"The likelihood of further job cuts in public administration, combined with what will amount to a squeeze in real living standards for many public sector workers, will intensify stresses and strains that are already evident within the public sector workforce.
"Managing these efficiency savings whilst preserving staff morale and boosting levels of performance will be as big a challenge for public sector organisations as the competitive challenge those in the private sector face in the global economy.
"This makes it even more vital that public sector managers implement state of the art people management practices of the kind needed to engage and motivate staff in the coming era of rapid change."
Stakeholder Response: Fact
Kieron Sharp, FACT director general, commented: "Film piracy has been seen by some as a ‘soft’ crime yet it brings harm and other serious criminal activity to local communities.
"It also has proven involvement with organised crime in the UK and internationally.
"FACT has strengthened its resource and capability over the past year and is now the pre eminent anti-piracy organisation in the UK.
"Criminals made over £270m from film piracy in 2005, making this the worst affected single sector for intellectual property crime out of all IP industries.
"This is revenue that has been lost to the local and national economy and is affecting British jobs."
Stakeholder Response: Investment Management Association
A spokesperson for Investment Management Association commented: "We welcome Gordon Brown’s confirmation that ISAs are to become a permanent part of the UK savings landscape.
"However, we are disappointed that neither the issues of raising limits or improving incentives for ISA investors have been addressed.
"The announcement that there is to be stamp duty reserve tax (SDRT) relief for non-UK exchange-traded funds is a good first step to reducing the distortions imposed by SDRT and we urge the chancellor to consider extending this further to authorised investment funds.
"Finally, we note that no amendments are imminent for authorised funds investing in property to correct the position for exempt investors who suffer tax on rental income.
"We welcome therefore, the government’s confirmation that discussions are to continue in order to ensure a level playing field.
Stakeholder Response: Fidelity International
Richard Wastcoat, UK managing director of Fidelity International, said about the planned changes to ISAs: "We welcome the confirmation from the government today in the pre-Budget report that ISAs will be restructured and become a permanent feature of the savings landscape, however we do not believe the reforms have gone far enough.
"Like PEPs and TESSAs before them, ISAs have proved to be a popular savings vehicle.
"More than 16 million people have ISAs and £215bn has been invested since their launch in 1999.
"If the government is serious about their intention to foster a long-term savings mentality among the British public, however, they need to make it worthwhile for them to do so and we believe the best way to do that is to raise the limit on the annual allowance.
"We believe that £10,000 is a realistic target and we urge the government to consider increasing the limit as a matter of urgency.
"In addition to ISAs being made permanent, the changes announced also include the removal of the distinction between mini and maxi ISAs.
"We welcome this as it means that investors putting £1,000 into a cash ISA with one provider can now put up to £6,000 in an equity ISA with another provider in the same year.
"Another change is that investors can roll over legacy cash ISAs into equity ISAs without exceeding their annual limit.
"History shows that equity based savings produce better returns than cash over the long term and it is important that investors are given the opportunity to rebalance their portfolios.
"We have canvassed opinion among financial advisers and the clear message is that while they support the changes, they are in agreement with us in that the government needs to increase the annual limit.
"Nine out of 10 advisers said that they thought the annual allowance should be raised, with the majority saying £10,000 would be an ideal amount.
"Other popular ideas included linking the allowance to inflation and having a lifetime allowance rather than an annual limit.
"As one adviser said: 'The current levels are so dated and do not encourage people to invest more for the future.'
"ISAs continue to play a vital role in the development of a long-term savings culture among British consumers and it is crucial that government does all it can to make investment in these vehicles as simple and effective as possible."
Stakeholder Response: Help the Aged
Mervyn Kohler, head of public affairs at Help the Aged, has told ePolitix.com: "Yet another up-beat pre-Budget report passes but Gordon Brown offers nothing to pensioners on low fixed incomes struggling with staggering fuel bills and remorselessly growing council taxes.
"While the chancellor painted a picture of a prosperous UK economy, the reality for pensioners is that they are facing the harshest winter for years.
"One of the government's favourite phrases - that of security in older age - is increasingly sounding like a sham.
"The government can claim proper credit for some of the steps it has taken in the past, but it is bordering on an insult to recycle the same Christmas presents year after year, and brazenly claim that the problem of pensioner poverty is sorted.
"One in five older people lives below the poverty line - in a country as rich as ours, this is a failure of epic proportions.
"Pensioner poverty is an issue the government seems to prefer to tackle with words instead of deeds.
"Those pensioners battered by soaring fuel costs and punishing Council Tax bills will find no lifeline in Gordon Brown's speech.
"On the evidence of today's report, the chancellor is boasting of goodies in his Christmas sleigh, but precious little of it is going down the chimneys of pensioner households."
Stakeholder Response: Age Concern
Gordon Lishman, director general of Age Concern, said: "Today was a chance for the chancellor to ace his big test, but instead he left unanswered questions and incomplete coursework.
"He could have managed the A* that older voters had hoped for - by focusing on the third of older workers who are without GCSE-standard skill levels, by helping older people who are scared of setting their heating at an adequate level and by starting the debate on the crisis-ridden social care system.
"Instead, older people are calling for a re-sit. He's left us wondering if he can deliver on skills, he's left many pensioners in the cold and he's left hundreds of thousands of older people confused and failed by the social care system."
Stakeholder Response: The Federation of Small Business
John Walker, FSB national policy chairman, said: "At first glance the pre-Budget report has a ‘some you win, some you lose’ feel to it for our members.
"As in previous years there were some welcome measures in the chancellor’s speech but there were also parts of the speech that will hit small businesses, which produce over 50 per cent of GDP, very hard."
On increased transport taxes Walker commented: "We are very concerned that small businesses will be collateral damage in the drive for cleaner cars.
"Small businesses cannot change their journey times or ditch their current vehicle today and buy a new one tomorrow.
"Greener vehicles should be taxed more lightly but older cars should not be penalised because new cars are expensive to buy.
"Specific measures will be required for rurally-based businesses that cannot access public transport.
"A successful economy depends on being able to move goods, services and people across the country.
"Increasing aviation and fuel taxes will not help small business to increase productivity. However, we welcome the decision not to re-instate the fuel duty escalator."
Stakeholder Response: British Retail Consortium
British Retail Consortium director general Kevin Hawkins said: "I give the chancellor six out of 10 on the story so far, which is more than a pass mark in the average school exam these days.
"Retailers are under huge pressure from above inflation increases in rents, rates, wage bills, energy costs and taxes but clearly today’s pre-Budget report is more of a social manifesto than a detailed economic plan.
"As always the devil will be in the unannounced detail - the chancellor has form when it comes to being highly selective about what he chooses to announce on pre-budget day - however, there were some positive noises, particularly on planning and transport."
Stakeholder Response
CML head of policy Jackie Bennett said: "In theory, we welcome the stamp duty exemption for most newly-built carbon-zero properties.
“But we will need to see the detail before we can assess the impact of this measure.
"Similarly, the extension of shared equity provision is welcome.
“But, as the government acknowledges, it is no substitute for tackling the main cause of affordability problems, which is the significant imbalance between housing supply and demand."
Stakeholder Response: Medical Research Council
The Chief Executive of the Medical Research Council, Professor Colin Blakemore has welcomed Sir David Cooksey’s review of the design and funding arrangements of the public funding of health research in the UK.
The findings of the review were announced by Gordon Brown in his pre-budget report to MPs.
Professor Colin Blakemore said:
"The Cooksey Report provides a perceptive analysis of the ‘gaps’ in the translational pathway from basic biomedical research through to improvements in healthcare and their adoption by the NHS.
"We welcome the Report’s recognition of the strength of the UK health research base and share the review team’s belief that current funding levels for basic science should be sustained.
"MRC has been in the forefront of efforts to build up translational and clinical research and to embed the culture of translation in our scientific community.
"Supporting research with the aim of improving human health is at the heart of our mission.
"As we said in our submission to the Cooksey Review team, we fully embrace the government’s vision of a more integrated health R&D system across the entire UK.
"We embrace the opportunities set out in the Cooksey Report and look forward to working with Professor John Bell and all the other partners in the new organisational structures announced today".
Stakeholder Response: Construction Products Association
A spokesperson for the Construction Products Association commented: "The Construction Products Association fully supports the chancellor’s desire to raise the energy efficiency of UK homes, but if the government is serious about climate change then it will have to do a great deal more than it announced today in the Pre-Budget report.
"We welcome the setting of a clear 10 year target for the delivery of zero carbon homes, although we do need to have a clear understanding of exactly what government means by this, the nature of the stamp duty exemptions and the time frame within which they will apply.
"Green loans to help householders upgrade the energy efficiency of their properties are one of a range of measures we recommended to the Chancellor.
"They provide a useful first step, but to be effective we believe that they should be part of a package of measures, including council tax discounts and reduced VAT on energy efficient products, if households are to be galvanised into action."
Commenting on the announcements, Economics Director Allan Wilen said: "The Association welcomes the Chancellor’s announcement that the Comprehensive Spending Review will include a new 10 year plan for transport, based around the principles set down in the recent Eddington Review, but there is inevitably a sense of déjà vu about this.
"It is vital that this plan delivers far more than the last, now abandoned, Ten Year Plan, and contains targets that really will make a positive improvement to the transport network of this country.
"Our continuing disappointment is that government has not recognised the pressure the industry is facing with the recent increases in energy costs and continues to increase the climate change levy and insist that those that are part of the European Emissions Trading Scheme must also pay this domestic tax.
"It is achieving nothing in terms of making industry more energy efficient and is only harming the competitiveness of UK firms, compared with similar industries in other parts of the world.
"We are also disappointed that the Chancellor has yet to recognise the inappropriateness of applying the Planning Gain Supplement to the granting of permissions for mineral extractions and we are now hoping that this is something he will remove from the scope of the planned tax by the Budget in the Spring."
Stakeholder Response: UKTFA
Commenting on the Chancellor’s announcement today regarding zero carbon housing, Bryan Woodley, Chief Executive of the UK Timber Frame Association (UKTFA), said: "All new homes being zero carbon homes within 10 years is an ambitious target, but one that we applaud.
"The timber frame industry in the UK is already developing the technology and building practices that will allow housebuilders to meet this target, and we believe that the use of timber frame makes it both commercially and technically feasible.
"For example, one of the UKTFA's members, Stewart Milne, will unveil its zero carbon house at BRE's Offsite 07 exhibition next June, and we expect it to provide useful information that will allow such innovative timber frame technology to be adapted to suit volume housebuilding.
"In the meantime, the timber frame industry is actively participating with English Partnership's latest phase of its Design for Manufacture competition to provide low and zero carbon developments across the country, as well as similar zero carbon schemes in the Thames Gateway area and elsewhere."
"Timber frame construction is recognised around the world as one of the most environmentally sound, mainstream methods to build new homes that are also adaptable, durable and safe:
- Wood is effectively a carbon-neutral material (even allowing for transport).
- Timber frame has the lowest CO2 cost of any commercially available building material.
- For every cubic metre of wood used instead of other building materials, 0.8 tonne of CO2 is saved from the atmosphere.
- A typical 100 square metre two-storey detached timber frame home contains 5-6 cubic metres more wood than the equivalent masonry house.
- Consequently, every timber frame home that is built saves about 4 tonnes of CO2 (about the amount produced by driving 14,000 miles).
- In addition to these CO2 savings, the operational cost of a house can be reduced by several hundred pounds due to its thermal efficiency.
- If all UK houses built since 1945 had been timber frame, then over 300 million tonnes of CO2 would have been saved."
