Tag Archives: National Insurance Holiday

London must not be left behind

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The Thames Gateway London Partnership, a cross party cross river organisation representing the 10 local authorities and 8 universities in the Thames Gateway area, yesterday (08.06.011) gave evidence to the Communities and Local Government Select Committee enquiry into regeneration alongside the London Borough of Newham.

The enquiry held in response to the Government publication ‘Regeneration to enable growth: What growth is doing to support community led regeneration’ heard from TGLP’s Chief Executive Ros Dunn,  who argued that London should not be penalised by Government policies, pointing to the region’s exclusion from the National Insurance Holiday, noting that:

‘Rebalancing the economy must mean levelling up, not down. London is the engine of the UK economy and must not be held back or allowed to fall back.’

Dunn also called for strong national leadership and recognition from government that targeted investment and community led regeneration need to be properly linked up.

TGLP’s Chief Executive Ros Dunn stated ‘The Communities and Local Government select committee hearing, provided TGLP the platform to present London’s case to central government. We hope the committee listens to our points and recommends them to central government.’

National Insurance ‘holiday’ campaign continues

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The National Insurance Contributions Bill reached its Report Stage and Third Reading on January 13, with TGLP continuing our campaign to include East and South East London in the National Insurance ‘holiday’.

London, the East and South East are excluded from the measure, which grants all new businesses a year’s National Insurance payment holiday for their first 10 employees, a saving of up to £50,000 per business.

The debate on the National Insurance Contributions Bill featured strong support for the Thames Gateway with five MPs making speeches pushing for the areas inclusion which drew on briefing provided by TGLP.  In total 92 MPs voted to include the London Thames Gateway in the National Insurance Holiday, but the amendment was defeated.

Speaking during the debate, Mike Gapes MP for Ilford South said:

“The Thames Gateway Partnership for London, recently wrote to [all Thames Gateway] Members……. to point out the discriminatory nature of the proposals and to urge the Government, even at this stage to see what they can do to help the Thames Gateway authorities. The partnership pointed out that there are 3.5 million residents in the Thames Gateway local authorities area and that it believes that “in excluding London and the South East from the regional freeze on National Insurance contributions the government is failing to take proper account of local economies, particularly the challenges faced by the Thames Gateway growth corridor”.”

Whilst we are disappointed that amendments allowing for the inclusion of the London Thames Gateway were not carried, we were encouraged by the level of support for the London Thames Gateway during the debate. After discussions with local MPs we understand that they are keen to return to the exclusion of the London Thames Gateway in the future and TGLP will endeavour to support them as best we can.

The Bill then passed to the House of Lords where the London Thames Gateway was also raised during the Second Reading Debate with a number of peers arguing the area should be included.

The Bill will now face scrutiny in Lords Grand Committee.  TGLP will continue to make the case for the country’s most deprived areas, including within the London Thames Gateway, to be included in this National Insurance ‘holiday’.

Press Release: London MPs angered by capital’s exclusion from new business tax ‘holiday’.

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MPs from the capital have hit out at the Government’s decision to exclude businesses in London and the South East from a ‘holiday’ exempting employers from paying National Insurance contributions.

Speaking during yesterday’s debate on the National Insurance Contributions Bill, MPs challenged the Government on its decision not to include London businesses in the measure, which is aimed at encouraging the creation of private sector jobs in regions reliant on public sector employment.

East Ham MP Stephen Timms said that the Government had “simply got this wrong”.

“It is absurd to omit from the scope of this initiative areas that the Government have themselves identified for the promotion of new business growth.

“It is in those parts of the country where the proportion of public sector dependence is high that we need to encourage new businesses to start up and take on employees. Of course that is exactly the situation and is what is required in the Thames Gateway area on the east side of London”.

The Thames Gateway London Partnership (TGLP) which represents councils across the London Thames Gateway, has argued that the by excluding London and the South East from the National Insurance holiday for new businesses the government is failing to take proper account of local economies, particularly the challenges faced by the Thames Gateway growth corridor.

TGLP Chief Executive Ros Dunn said:

“If the ‘holiday’ is not to be applied to the whole of the UK, then it needs to be applied in a much fairer manner, one which takes into account need and suitability on a far more localised basis.

“Up to a third of jobs in some areas of the Thames Gateway are in the public sector, way above the national average, and we are concerned that a picture of our area may be emerging which does not take into consideration the diverse range of economic circumstances experienced by London boroughs, and right across the London Thames Gateway.

“London and the South East are not immune to the current challenging economic circumstances and should not be excluded from what are otherwise very welcome efforts to support small businesses”.