{"id":417,"date":"2014-10-03T14:22:11","date_gmt":"2014-10-03T14:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.michaelfallon.org.uk\/?p=417"},"modified":"2014-10-12T12:47:06","modified_gmt":"2014-10-12T12:47:06","slug":"west-kent-partnership-business-engagement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.michaelfallon.org.uk\/?p=417","title":{"rendered":"West Kent Partnership – Business Engagement"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"west<\/a>Michael’s speech at this event highlighted the importance of vibrant SMEs in West Kent to the national economy. \u00a0Representing a constituency in West Kent, he said could see first-hand the entrepreneurial zeal of our local business owners and\u00a0discussed how the Government is backing them.<\/p>\n

It is no secret: small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy. \u00a0SMEs are the responsible for nearly half the job creation in the UK. \u00a0And it is job creation which is a central part of this Government\u2019s economic and welfare plans. \u00a0I am sure you will all join with me in welcoming last week\u2019s employment figures which showed that there are now more people in work than ever before. \u00a0In the constituency of Sevenoaks we saw the claimant count fall by 225 from August 2013 – August 2014.<\/p>\n

It is thanks to the risk takers, the thinkers and the doers who run our SMEs that more people than ever before have the security of a pay package and the Government is backing you wholeheartedly. \u00a0But to be able to create the jobs for our economic recovery, SMEs have to do business in an economy which is business-friendly. That\u2019s is why he was so pleased that the Government is backing them in a number of ways: \u00a0Michael said:
\n1. \u00a0Tax cuts<\/strong>
\n“I am a low-tax Conservative so I am pleased that small businesses will now feel the impact of several important tax cuts. \u00a0Corporation tax has fallen to 21 per cent; help on business rates has come in; and the landmark Employment Allowance will take up to \u00a32,000 off employers’ National Insurance bills.”
\n2. \u00a0Apprenticeships<\/strong>
\n“Everyone attending this event will know the value of helping our young onto the career ladder. To help small businesses take on apprentices the Government is providing an extra \u00a385 million for over 100,000 grants to employers, and from April 2015 employer\u2019s national insurance contributions for those under-21 will be abolished, making it easier for businesses to take on more young people.”
\n3. \u00a0Red Tape<\/strong>
\n“I am perhaps most pleased by the needless red tape which has been cut and the net burden of regulation on business which has fallen by almost \u00a31.5 billion since January 2011. \u00a0Speaking to businesses in my constituency, they all say the same thing, red tape and regulation has held them back in the past and we must continue to elevate this burden from them.”
\n4. \u00a0Energy Costs<\/strong>
\n“I know from my time as Minister for Business and Energy that small businesses are struggling with energy costs. To help them get a fairer deal, the Government has secured an agreement from the major energy firms to end auto-rollovers for business customers, limit back-billing, increase transparency of contract terms and make switching easier.”
\n5. \u00a0Regional Growth Fund\/Escalate Programme<\/strong>
\n“It is essential to give local communities more autonomy to help rebalance our economy towards private-sector growth. Ministers are improving economic development at the regional level through Enterprise Zones and the \u00a33.2 billion Regional Growth Fund. \u00a0Significant funding is also being devolved to Local Enterprise Partnerships to enable them to tackle barriers to growth in the private sector in their area. \u00a0Here in West Kent, we have already heard this morning of three success stories from the Escalate programme which is a \u00a35.5 million scheme, funded by the Regional Growth Fund. Offering loans on an interest\u2010free basis to businesses has led to sustained job creation and business expansion. \u00a0Also, availability of business rate discounts and Enhanced Capital Allowance will each be extended by three years as an incentive for new and expanding businesses to locate in Enterprise Zones.”<\/p>\n

“All over the country and especially here in West Kent, SME\u2019s are driving forward economic growth through innovation and sheer hard work. \u00a0It is fantastic that there are now over two million new private sector jobs and 400,000 more businesses than in 2010. \u00a0So I encourage you all to continue to be part of the economic success story I look forward to watching you all go from strength to strength in the years to come.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michael’s speech at this event highlighted the importance of vibrant SMEs in West Kent to the national economy. \u00a0Representing a constituency in West Kent, he said could see first-hand the entrepreneurial zeal of our local business owners and\u00a0discussed how the Government is backing them. It is no secret: small businesses are the lifeblood of our … Continue reading “West Kent Partnership – Business Engagement”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[22,8,23,75,73,74,7,76],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelfallon.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelfallon.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelfallon.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelfallon.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelfallon.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=417"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelfallon.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":446,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelfallon.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/417\/revisions\/446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelfallon.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=417"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelfallon.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=417"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.michaelfallon.org.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=417"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}