Budget 2012: LEPs get £74m shot in the arm

LOCAL enterprise partnerships in the Midlands were today promised an extra £74m to unlock development in the region.

Chancellor George Osborne announced the extra investment from the Growing Places Fund as part of a package of measures aimed at stimulating growth.

The Growing Places fund is aimed at removing barriers to regional growth by helping to fund developments such as new access roads or energy infrastructure.
Setting out his ambition to make the UK “the best place in Europe to start, finance and grow a business”, Mr Osborne said he would be expanding the value of the proposed Business Finance Partnership which will target the finance needs of midcap businesses, from £1bn to £1.2bn.

He also promised to try and encourage lenders to do more to support business through the Enterprise Finance Guarantee scheme by expanding the Government’s guarantee from 13% to 20% of their EFG porfolios.

And he responded to calls from business groups by confirming that from next year the Government will ntroduce an “Above the Line” R&D tax credit.

The Government will also spend £60m to set up a UK Centre for aerodynamics and establish a £100m fund to support investment in new university research facilities.

Graeme Crawford, tax partner at Ernst & Young in Birmingham, said the announcement on research and development tax credit would be welcomed by larger companies.

“The tax-favoured EMI (Enterprise Management Incentive) scheme for share options has seen its limit increased to £250,000, another positive measure,” he said.