Autumn Budget 2018: Response from the MPA

Mineral Products Association welcomes continuing emphasis on promoting investment

THE Mineral Products Association (MPA) has welcomed the Chancellor’s continuing emphasis on promoting investment set out in his Autumn Budget.

It says confirmation of the £29 billion National Roads Fund and financing of Road Investment Strategy 2, the development of the National Productivity Investment Fund and further measures to increase housing supply are significant policies for the construction and minerals products industries, but cautions that delivery will be the key policy test.

In the short term, the MPA says the additional £420 million funding for local road maintenance acknowledges the scale of disrepair and should be the first step towards more sustainable levels of local road funding in the 2019 spending review.

The further freeze in the Aggregates Levy rate at £2 per tonne in 2019/20 is also welcomed, although the Association says the stated policy of future indexation does not reflect the lack of environmental justification for the Levy. The MPA also remains concerned at the vulnerability of UK energy-intensive industries, such as cement and lime, to planned and potential carbon taxation.

MPA chief executive Nigel Jackson said: ‘The Chancellor has huge challenges to address and the OBR’s forecast that GDP per capita will rise by less than 1% per annum to 2023 is a sobering backdrop.

‘In these circumstances it is more critical than ever that the measures announced to sustain and increase public and private investment are implemented, and that government remains mindful of the need to minimize business costs.

‘Forecast economic growth remains lacklustre and there is no room for complacency, particularly given the current assumptions the Chancellor has made with regards to Brexit. Boosting growth and building investment confidence must remain of paramount importance.’