Backwards and forwards
Welcome to the first Business Bulletin of 2012.
Before looking forward to what lies ahead for this year, it is an opportunity to take stock of some of the activity which took place in the closing stages of 2011. December saw the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, on behalf of and with input from the Chamber network including AGCC, submit responses to two key consultations.
In a written response to the Scottish Government on the Scottish Spending Review 2011 and the Draft Budget 2012-13, the SCC has made particular comment on Capital Spending calling for investment in transport infrastructure projects to bring long-term economic benefit for Scotland and to support private sector business in their role in driving economic growth.
The response also responds to questions on Revenue Spending asking the Government to scrutinise and weigh the economic impact of spending commitments – as example, should employed 60-year-olds get free public transport?
The old bête noir of business rates is also included for discussion, touching particularly on annual inflationary increase, empty property relief and the introduction of a public health levy. The response does however welcome the Government’s commitment to review business rates and the Chamber network’s opportunity to be involved in this process.
The response is available at http://tinyurl.com/79dgd37
The chamber network’s response to “Putting Learners at the Centre”, the Government’s consultation on reforms to the post-16 education system has proposed a series of reforms to the funding and structure of Scotland’s skills and employability system. These include the rationalisation of all the programmes, projects and funding which form the employability agenda to bring about greater efficiency leading to better results and financial savings and the establishment of a new Scottish Employment Incentive Programme to incentivise businesses – including SMEs – to create more job opportunities for young people.
The complete response can be read at
http://tinyurl.com/7e4pl2r
This report in particular provides an important platform for a priority of both the SCC and this Chamber throughout 2012 which will be a focus on the skills agenda and the issues which need to be addressed to benefit our businesses and ultimately our economy.
The Chamber’s Policy Council discussed that issue at their first meeting of 2012 and details of that will form the basis of the policy page in the March Business Bulletin.
Also looking ahead to other AGCC priorities we will once again produce an election manifesto – this time for the local
elections on May 3 2012, taking your feedback to highlight the priorities we want to bring before our prospective new batch of councillors in the city and shire.
More immediately the Chamber is working on its response to Transport Scotland’s Rail2014 consultation. Both the current contract for rail passenger services (ScotRail) and the funding arrangements for Network Rail in Scotland are due to come to an end and new arrangements have to be in place. The consultation document provides details of how the railway in Scotland operates today and sets out the questions and options being considered for the future.
Of particular interest to the North-east is a suggestion put forward for consideration that cross-border services – e.g. direct services between London and Aberdeen, terminate at an Edinburgh hub, with passengers travelling beyond that transferring to another train.
The Chamber has already met with Transport Minister Keith Brown and with Transport Scotland to discuss the issue and will be feeding into a national response from the Scottish Chambers of Commerce.
Full details of the consultation are available at www.transportscotland.gsi.gov.uk/Rail2014.
But whatever else we are involved in, it seems that yet again, business faces a challenging year ahead. The latest British Chambers of Commerce quarterly economic survey results published in January predicts a year which will begin with a period of short-term stagnation and a lack of business confidence.
However as we’ve seen before, North-east businesses tend to show great resilience in the face of dire predictions and our best approach might be to adopt a “glass half full” approach rather than the glass half empty one and approach life on that basis.
Winston Churchill certainly saw it that way – “The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty” – he said.
But well, if things don’t quite pan out that way and it’s not that easy, he had a saying for that too – “If you’re going through hell, keep going”. |
