Over the last few months, we all endured the uncertainty generated by a General Election, and from a communications perspective, there are quite a few takeaways.
The country has spoken, millions lent their votes to other parties, and we must now hope businesses and banks have the confidence to turn the investment tap back on.
Some of the smart money (although probably not to even make a betting quip) was on it being 2 May, coinciding the General Election with local council elections. Others thought it’d be October or November.
For whatever reason, Sunak didn’t do that, and in May lost 474 councillors, invaluable foot soldiers for the main General Election campaign. Instead, he stood in the pouring rain and announced he was going for 4 June while being serenaded by D:Ream’s ‘Things Can Only Get Better’. Timing in any communications announcement is priceless.
Anyway, that’s now history and we’ve all got a job to do. Election uncertainty felt like paralysis, with businesses unsure of the policy landscape they might have to adapt to under a new government.
Certainty is what firms crave, combined with a shared optimism of national renewal. Given the state of the public finances and the shackles the Chancellor has placed on the fiscal rules, we all know that change isn’t happening overnight.
The government, and the Bank of England, can help nurture the conditions for growth, but it’ll be largely business investment that drives per capita productivity and generates tax receipts. Let’s dust off those business plans, get our positive heads back on and get communicating the positive.
There are two things the business community pushed for – planning reform and infrastructure investment – and it’s clear that from the first few days, the government has listened.
Planning reform is crucial. The government has signalled the move away from the “The answer’s no before I hear the question” approach to planning. Local authorities need the funding to recruit and retain more boots officers, and that’s been promised, and we need planning committees equipped to make decisions based on an understanding of planning policy and better public awareness of the positive role development can have on a local economy.
The new Chancellor has already committed to reviewing national planning policy by the end of the first month. It immediately relaxed the rules on onshore wind application, which will in turn be a fillip for the UK’s green businesses and the move towards being carbon neutral.
The next priority is to greenlight key infrastructure, notably the Lower Thames Crossing and support the £9bn investment through planning and get expensive spades in the ground. It would unlock jobs and sites in Kent and Essex, and improve the nation’s connectivity to the cross-Channel ports of Dover and Eurotunnel.
So, this summer, after we’ve recharged, we’ve got to come together – look for other businesses to collaborate with, network and start communicating.
