“To have a new, Liverpool-born Prime Minister is clearly an important moment for the city region and Liverpool Chamber congratulates Andy Burnham on his appointment.
“In his welcome speech, he pledged stability and a 10-year plan, which are instinctively welcome notions for businesses who thrive on having long-term clarity and for whom uncertainty has unfortunately become the new normal. The regular feedback we receive from businesses highlights that a lack of confidence is holding them back and this simply must change.
“Liverpool Chamber stands ready to work in partnership with any government that is willing to make the changes needed to deliver the economic growth we all crave. In our recent session with Mayor Steve Rotheram, we outlined our support for further devolved powers for our city region allowing greater place-based decision-making alongside sensible, national policies developed in collaboration with businesses to help stimulate growth.
“We now wait to hear firm policy details from the PM and his new team spelling out exactly how the government plans to put businesses at the heart of its economic strategy by reducing the costs of doing business, boosting skills investment, reimagining public procurement processes and giving business owners the confidence they desperately need to plan ahead.”
Sean Keyes, CEO of Liverpool-based civil and structural engineering consultancy Sutcliffe, a Strategic Partner of Liverpool Chamber, added:
“Whatever your politics, the speech set out a direction of travel that matters to anyone who designs and builds in this country. Two things stood out to me. The first was the recognition that power and money have drained out of our towns and cities over four decades. The second was the emphasis on housing. After more than 40 years in this industry, I have heard plenty of speeches about rebalancing the country. What counts is what follows them.
“I have no quarrel with the principle of devolving decisions closer to the places affected by them. To my mind it is the right instinct, and Manchester and Liverpool have both shown what happens when local leaders are trusted to get on with it. The question is whether the capacity exists locally to turn that power into schemes on the ground. Planning departments are stretched, and the technical people needed to take a site from a drawing to a finished home are in short supply. The Royal Academy of Engineering estimates that almost one in five engineers will retire by 2030.
“That is why the commitment to give young people a real alternative to the university route is the part I would most like to see carried into government. There are talented young people in this city who will not take on tens of thousands of pounds of debt to enter our profession, and we lose them. Sutcliffe designs around 5,000 homes a year and we have pledged to train 40 new engineers and surveyors over the next decade, because the work does not get done otherwise. A decent home and a strong technical education are the foundations of a successful society.
“So, this is a fair start, and we will judge it the way this industry always judges these things. Not by the speech, but by the number of homes built and the number of apprentices trained.”
