Spending Review and Industrial strategy

Following Rachel Reeves’ Spending Review on 11 June, ICAEW shared insights and reactions to a wide range of stakeholders, including cabinet ministers, shadow ministers, ICAEW members in both Houses, special advisers, and select committee officers.

On 23 June the government published its Industrial Strategy, and the professional and business services (PBS) sector plan. ICAEW responded to the government’s Industrial Strategy consultation in November, and has helped shape the PBS sector plan through membership of the Professional and Business Services Council. 

ICAEW’s reactions to the Industrial Strategy were shared with selected stakeholders in parliament and focused on three key policy areas: skills; access to finance and supporting regional growth. 

• Skills: ICAEW advocated for simplifications when applying to the AI Upskilling Fund.
• Access to finance: ICAEW advocated for bespoke resources to facilitate scale-ups in the UK to ensure access to financial advice is more readily available. 
• Supporting regional growth: ICAEW recommended that the government should make Local Skills Improvement Plans a key part of any drive to invest within a specific area.

Inheritance tax relief

Ahead of a debate on the impact of inheritance tax on family-owned businesses, ICAEW shared insights from members with participants. Speaking for the government, the Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury James Murray cited regulatory reform, the SME strategy, and trade deals as new support initiatives for family businesses. 

Later in June, ICAEW’s Tax Faculty met with the debate sponsor Liberal Democrat MP Susan Murray and Shadow Business Minister Dame Harriett Baldwin. The Tax Faculty will continue to serve as a resource for the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats as they continue to scrutinise this policy. 

ICAEW also reached out to a group of some 50 Labour backbenchers in rural constituencies to share suggested solutions that would help protect intergenerational farms and family businesses and offer further discussion with our policy experts. 

Business confidence 

ICAEW representatives had several meetings in June with policymakers to discuss the results of the Q1 Business Confidence Monitor (BCM), which showed that business confidence had fallen into negative territory for the first time since 2022. 

These meetings were with ICAEW members Peter Bedford, a Conservative MP, and Charlotte Cane, an MP for the Liberal Democrat party. Cane also participated in a roundtable with ICAEW members local to her constituency. Meanwhile, Bedford also requested a briefing on the VAT threshold ahead of a Westminster Hall debate he had organised. 

On 6 June, ICAEW Chief Policy and Communications Officer Iain Wright attended a speech from Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Mel Stride, which emphasised the need for a “radical rewiring” of the UK economy. ICAEW took the opportunity to discuss matters relating to small businesses that had arisen from the BCM. 

Later in the month, ICAEW met with Labour MP Phil Brickell on 18 June, which also partly focused on the BCM, before turning to matters related to sanctions and the future of anti-money laundering supervision. As a member of the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, Brickell was also interested in ICAEW’s activity around international trade and enhancing mutual recognition of professional qualifications.