Chamber column: Sharon Smith looks at the Government's approach to recovery

As part of a ‘new deal’, aiming to emulate the New Deal policies of the depression-era American President Franklin D Roosevelt, the prime minister detailed plans to accelerate £5 billion on infrastructure projects, which would be less than a quarter of on per cent of GDP.

In a bid to boost the country’s financial outlook the PM pledged to put jobs and infrastructure at the centre of governments economic growth with a commitment to ‘build, build, build’.

As with previous conservative governments, many expected a return to austerity measures to tackle the contraction of the UK economy, which shrank at record levels during the peak of the coronavirus crisis.

However, such unprecedented times calls for further action and a different approach from the Government, this ‘new deal’ of spending policies looks promising at a distance, however the Government will need to act swiftly and begin implementing to provide the country with the support it needs after such a devastating period.

With the job retention scheme ending in October, Government’s focus should also be on implementing further schemes to potentially support businesses who cannot financially support their staff because of the lockdown measures as a part of a wider roadmap to economic recovery.

If this is not addressed the country could see a record surge in unemployment. In his speech the PM said: “what we can do is put in the investment now, get the plans going, get the projects underway.” It is the hope that these initial plans are the beginning of what will be the government’s long recovery plan and will give the economy a much-needed boost.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak will provide a further update on the economy next week.

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