UK economy
Growth Review
29 November 2011
The Government’s economic policy objective is to achieve strong, sustainable and balanced growth. In November 2010, the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills launched the Growth Review to undertake a thorough assessment of how Government can help create the conditions for growth.
The Growth Review is a rolling programme, to last the whole of this Parliament, calling on business to challenge the Government to remove barriers to growth. It is focused on four overarching ambitions for the UK economy:
- To create the most competitive tax system in the G20;
- To make the UK the best place in Europe to start, finance and grow a business;
- To encourage investment and exports as a route to a more balanced economy; and
- To create a more educated workforce that is the most flexible in Europe.
Phase one
The first phase of the Growth Review reported alongside the Plan For Growth (PDF 1.7MB). This included over 130 reforms designed to remove barriers to growth, including on planning, regulation and access to finance.
- Find out more on phase one of the Growth Review here (BIS website, opens in new window)
- Find out more about Budget 2011
Departments are accountable for implementation of commitments announced in the Growth Review, and progress is published as part of monthly progress updates of their Business Plans (Number 10 website, opens in new browser window). Work is well underway on all commitments, and over 90 per cent of reforms unveiled in the first phase of the Growth Review have been completed or have reached significant milestones.
Phase two
Building on the first phase of the Growth Review, the Government announced in the Autumn Statement a series of further reforms to remove barriers to business growth in infrastructure, education and skills, logistics, mid-sized businesses, the rural economy and open data. These reforms followed extensive engagement with over 500 businesses, and included reforms to increase investment in digital and transport infrastructure in the UK, and reforms to strengthen business links into the education and skills system, including apprenticeships.
The documents above are available in Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF). If you do not have Adobe Acrobat installed on your computer you can download the software free of charge from the Adobe website. For alternative ways to read PDF documents and further information on website accessibility visit the HM Treasury accessibility page.
