Commenting on the Chancellor’s Budget announcement today (3 March 2021) Chris Luck, Shaw Trust CEO said:
“The measures announced by the Chancellor today to protect the jobs and livelihoods of the British people are essential. These measures, alongside the accompanying fiscal announcements to strengthen the economy, lay the bedrock for our economic recovery.
It is pleasing to see the launch of the UK Infrastructure Bank and the opening up of the Levelling Up Fund, announcements which sow the seeds from which the government’s levelling up agenda can build momentum. The direction of travel set out in the Build Back Better policy document is positive, but as our economy recovers the Chancellor has the chance to go further and should seize the opportunity to bring about a real paradigm shift by tackling underlying education, skills and wider societal inequalities to produce a fairer more equitable economy that prioritises not just financial but also social and natural capital.
The Chancellor emphasised his £65 billion additional package of measures to support the economy, which is welcomed. It is important to focus on maximising the return on social investment and social value to deliver the levelling up agenda across the UK . This should include utilising public procurement to better enable social enterprises which reinvest their surplus back into the communities they serve; thus increasing social outcomes and delivering better value for the taxpayer.
The Chancellor rightly spoke about supporting people not just into work, but into decent and well paid jobs. We at Shaw Trust remain fully committed to playing our part in promoting good work, using our child to career framework, so as to create a society where good employment is accessible to all irrespective of life circumstances.”