Construction to start on Whitby Maritime Training Hub
Work on the construction of a £10m maritime facility in a seaside town is set to begin, a council has said.The Whitby Maritime Training Hub will provide training facilities and accommodation for maritime businesses and service providers, North Yorkshire Council said. The council said the hub, on Endeavour Wharf, would also have space for engineering workshops and office space for marine-based start-up businesses, with construction due to be completed in April 2026. Councillor Mark Crane said: We believe the hub can open the door to new economic growth in coastal areas and be a key development for Whitby."
He added: "It is imperative that there is a sustainable and diverse range of job opportunities for our communities and the building of a world-class training facility can only help inspire the future apprentices and professionals in the maritime sector."
'New opportunities'
The authority said it would initially manage the facility, with the potential for a community interest company to be developed to take on the running of the hub.Whitby Town Board chair Barry Harland said: "Presenting new opportunities for people in and around Whitby is the main reason for the hub being built."The project, which is expected to cost £9.6m, will be funded from the £17.1m given to Whitby as part of the Government's Town Deals programme. The car park at Endeavour Wharf has been closed for construction with alternative car parking available in the nearby park and ride from 6 April.
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Reuters
30 minutes ago
- Reuters
UK could boost growth by radically reshaping the Treasury: Peacock
LONDON, June 20 (Reuters) - UK finance minister Rachel Reeves insists higher economic growth is her top priority, but the government's current plan to address the country's chronically low investment is unlikely to be ambitious enough. What may be needed is a structural rethink of the finance ministry itself. Reeves has adjusted her fiscal rules to allow for an extra 113 billion pounds of investment over five years, while remaining committed to ensuring debt falls as a proportion of national income within five years. In the UK government's latest spending plan unveiled last week, she started to allocate the extra capital to areas including defence, housing, transport infrastructure and a new nuclear power plant. Even so, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility, an independent fiscal watchdog, UK capital spending will climb to a peak of 3.9% of GDP in 2027/2028 but then fall back in the following two years, continuing a limp public investment record stretching back to the global financial crisis. Reeves is searching for other growth levers, including deregulation and increased UK investment by British pension funds. Additionally, the government is seeking to streamline planning laws and taking steps – albeit small ones – to rebuild trade relations with the European Union. But the government is fundamentally hamstrung by its fiscal rules. Departments are currently required to go cap in hand to the finance ministry to learn what they can spend and then undergo frequent check-ins to see if the fiscal position has deteriorated, which could lead to spending cuts or tax rises. This is not a system that will produce a viable long-term growth strategy. The International Monetary Fund – not known for being a fan of unfettered state spending – said last month that the UK should consider taking a more pragmatic approach to avoid having to change policy too often. The IMF suggested minor breaches should not require instant corrective action and that assessment of the rules should be done no more than once a year. But something more radical is likely required for Britain to break out of the low growth, low productivity loop it has been trapped in for almost two decades. Over this period, debt as a proportion of GDP has almost tripled while the national tax take has held steady, suggesting that part of the problem might be with the way the finance ministry operates. The machinery of government needs recalibration to focus more systematically on productive investment that can ultimately help to drive debt down over time. Reeves is trying on this score. She has asked the OBR to assess the long-term impact of capital spending decisions to determine whether they could improve public finances. She is also changing the Treasury's "Green Book" rules that dictate approval of capital projects, shifting from a narrow cost-benefit analysis to an assessment of the impact on broader strategic goals such as lifting poorer regions of the UK. However, a fundamental issue remains. The Treasury still wields huge influence within the UK government, and when growth falls short, the impulse is typically to tighten the fiscal screws, thereby worsening growth prospects. The Institute for Government, a UK-based think tank, has argued that the economic heft of the prime minister's team needs strengthening as a counterbalance. EU nations – Germany, Spain and the Netherlands among others – have both a finance ministry and a separate, growth-focused economy ministry at the heart of government. Calls for a dramatic change in the Finance Ministry are growing. Maurice Glasman, who heads "Blue Labour", a campaign to reverse what it says is the Labour Party's abandonment of working-class communities, advocates abolishing the Treasury, scrapping fiscal rules and pursuing heavy infrastructure investment. While Glasman's prescription has little chance of being implemented in full, his ideas could gain influence within a government threatened by the rise of Nigel Farage's populist Reform UK party, which is targeting traditional Labour voters. Recent opinion polls have given Reform UK 27%-32% public support compared with 22%-24% for Labour. Ensuring public finances do not spiral out of control is, of course, critical for any government. And less oversight by the Treasury could result in wasted taxpayer money spent on unproductive investments that appeal to the political base. Moreover, the bond market has not reacted well to perceived UK fiscal imprudence in recent years, as demonstrated by the rapid demise of Liz Truss's premiership of 2022. But bond investors are apt to respond more positively to a long-term, investment-led approach to reducing public borrowing, even if it involves some upfront spending. It helps that the UK currently faces less political uncertainty than some of its peers and is in the middle of the pack in terms of developed market debt burdens. Reeves appears to understand that an investment-led structural reset is required to jump-start the UK growth engine. But to make that a reality, the first change may need to be rethinking the relationship between the Treasury and the prime minister's office. The opinions expressed here are those of Mike Peacock, the former head of communications at the Bank of England and a former senior editor at Reuters. Enjoying this column? Check out Reuters Open Interest (ROI), opens new tab, opens new tab, your essential new source for global financial commentary. ROI delivers thought-provoking, data-driven analysis of everything from swap rates to soybeans. 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The Herald Scotland
6 hours ago
- The Herald Scotland
Scotland's financial plan must show child poverty funding
The documents set out the Scottish Government's priorities for the next five years, and includes estimates for amounts of tax to be collected, and spending in areas like health, education and local government. Read more: Ahead of the Holyrood statement, Ms Robinson blamed the 'disappointing' outcome of the UK Government's recent Spending Review and Westminster's welfare reforms for worsening Scotland's financial outlook. She said the Scottish budget had been short-changed by £1.1 billion in day-to-day funding compared to UK departments. 'This government has delivered a balanced budget every year while taking steps to improve the overall sustainability of our finances. "This is despite a deeply challenging financial situation caused by rising global instability, persistent higher inflation and over a decade of UK austerity. 'Our disappointing settlement at the recent UK Spending Review has made the situation worse, short-changing the Scottish Government by £1.1bn in our day-to-day funding compared with UK Government departments. "This comes on top of reductions in our funding worth hundreds of millions of pounds as a result of the UK Government's proposed welfare reforms and failure to fully fund its employer National Insurance increase. 'In this context, it is important that we take action to maximise funding targeted at frontline services such as our NHS.' Shona Robison will deliver the MTFS on Wednesday (Image: Robert Perry) The MFTS is usually published each May, but this year's was delayed by four weeks due to the timing of the UK Government's multi-year Spending Review, published on June 11. As a result, MSPs will not be able to scrutinise the document until September, after the summer recess— much to the frustration of Holyrood's Finance and Public Administration Committee. According to the Scottish Fiscal Commission, the gap between what the Scottish Government spends and what it takes in is expected to grow from £1bn in 2024–25 to almost £2bn by 2027–28. The Fiscal Sustainability Delivery Plan, due to be published alongside the MTFS, is expected to set out how the government intends to close this gap—though details remain sparse. Stephen Boyd of the IPPR think tank told The Herald on Sunday that expectations were high for a more detailed and transparent strategy. 'At this stage, and given the month-long delay in publication, it is entirely reasonable to expect that long-standing criticisms will start to be addressed in this MTFS,' he said. "Information presented consistently on a year-to-year basis; more detailed information on spending priorities and future trends; more detailed information on risks and how these will be mitigated.' Mr Boyd said the strategy must outline how the Scottish Government plans to fund the First Minister's key priorities: tackling child poverty, growing the economy, addressing the climate crisis and improving public services. 'It is difficult to see how significant progress can be made on these priorities, especially the first, without spending more money,' he said. 'The MTFS should begin to set out a longer-term tax strategy, recognising that taxes will likely have to rise. 'The tax strategy published alongside this year's budget included a number of commitments for the remainder of this parliament—for example, that over half of Scottish taxpayers will pay less Income Tax than they do in the rest of the UK. 'The MTFS should begin to set out a longer-term strategy recognising that taxes will likely have to rise to respond to the demands of an ageing society and the climate crisis.' Read more: Mr Boyd said that despite increases in the block grant announced in the UK autumn budget and the Spending Review, Scotland's public finances 'remain tight'. 'Unless the Cabinet Secretary is prepared to raise taxes, portfolio funding settlements are likely to be tight, especially if—as it's reasonable to expect—health is protected. 'It is reasonable to expect that parts of the public sector—and their workforces—will be disappointed by the MTFS. 'It is entirely possible that a revised approach to pay and workforce will be signalled in the MTFS. Pay settlements have been relatively generous in the devolved public sector over recent years. 'It will be interesting to see how the Cabinet Secretary navigates this politically fraught terrain. 'As the modelling produced by IPPR Scotland and others shows, it is clear that more generous welfare payments are required to make significant progress on the First Minister's main priority of eradicating child poverty. "Yet, the First Minister recently suggested there will be no further increases in the Scottish child payment. 'The MTFS will provide a clear signal on just how serious the Scottish Government is about meeting this priority.'
Powys County Times
9 hours ago
- Powys County Times
Starmer puts skills training at heart of industrial strategy plan
Sir Keir Starmer will set out his industrial strategy on Monday as he seeks to kickstart the stuttering economy and reduce the UK's reliance on foreign workers. The decade-long plan for 'national renewal' will include £275 million in skills investment to train Britons to do jobs in growth industries which might otherwise require imported labour. The strategy will include specific funding to train people for work in defence, engineering, digital and construction roles. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the strategy 'will help transform our skills system to end the overreliance on foreign labour and ensure British workers can secure good, well-paid jobs in the industries of tomorrow and drive growth and investment right across the country'. Monday's industrial strategy will be followed later in the week by a new trade plan intended to make the UK the best-connected country in the world to do business. The Prime Minister will launch the industrial strategy hoping it will help in his mission of delivering economic growth. The economy shrank by 0.3% in April, the biggest monthly contraction in gross domestic product for a year-and-a-half, as businesses felt the impact of global uncertainty caused by Donald Trump's tariffs and domestic pressure as a result of hikes to firms' national insurance contributions. Around one-in-seven young people are not in education or employment, and the number of people taking an apprenticeship has fallen by almost a fifth between 2016/17 and 2023/24. The Government hopes the growth sectors identified in the industrial strategy will create 1.1 million new jobs by 2035. The skills package includes capital investment from a £200 million fund which will support new facilities including 'technical excellence colleges' providing specialised training for local industries. The total funding is expected to train thousands more workers by 2029 including computer programmers, IT technicians, electrical and civil engineers. Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson said: 'Skills rightly run right through the heart of this industrial strategy because they are key to breaking the link between background and success for young people and delivering prosperity for our country.' Stephen Phipson, the boss of manufacturers' organisation Make UK, welcomed the skills announcement. 'We look forward to working with the Government to fix the skills gap in manufacturing, which has been the sector's Achilles' heel for decades,' he said. Other elements of the plan are expected to include measures to help cut energy costs for industries which have complained they are being forced to compete with rivals overseas who face lower bills. Meanwhile some £380 million will be spent on a range of projects intended to double private investment in the creative industries. Shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith welcomed the investment in skills but said 'the Government are stepping on the accelerator and the brake at the same time' by hiking national insurance for firms and introducing extra employment rights which could increase costs. 'This inherent contradiction cannot make for a feasible or serious strategy, and will hold the Government to account for it,' he said.
