Insider Media Limited

Despite the billions of pounds sliced from governmental departments through the Chancellor George Osborne's Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR), the East Midlands “doesn’t fare too badly”. That’s according to Stephanie Allen, head of the public sector at PwC in the Midlands. Alongside all the funding committed to the region’s capital programmes, Allen told Insider that the region will benefit from the low interest rates which have been guaranteed.

She said: “This will really help the East Midlands’ business community. Low interest rates mean that it will be cheaper for other countries to buy their goods, which means some big opportunities in the future.

Allen added that although the axing of 490,000 nationwide public sector jobs was “inevitable”, flexibility in the workforce would be key for survival.

“Any creative ways to mitigate the job losses will be seized upon, for instance giving staff the option of a shorter working week, reviewing other terms and conditions to reduce overall costs, or using training budgets to help staff transfer into new areas”, she said.

George Cowcher, chief executive of the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Chamber agreed that the cuts "were not as as savage as expected".

He said: “There were a number of measures unveiled that would appear to be positive for business.

“The Chancellor stated that the efficiency savings were drawn up with a view to promoting private sector recovery, and the Chamber firmly believes that this is where future growth and job creation will come from.

“Today’s announcement was extremely light on detail and Government will need to do all it can to provide clarity on where detailed cuts to support the headline figures announced today will be made. It is also vital that they are phased in over a prolonged period to minimise their impact on the economy and the private sector."

There was also strong reaction regarding the banking reform. The CSR revealed that the banking levy will be made permanent and that all the UK's top banks need to sign up to the code of practice introduced last year.

Paul Ray, head of banking at Nottingham-based Browne Jacobson, said: "The Chancellor has a fine line to walk here. On the one hand, reforming the UK banking regulatory system to prevent future systematic failures and on the other hand, not going too far. The City of London is a major asset of the UK economy and must remain an attractive place for the world's major financial intuitions to be centred.

"The banking community accepts this but what is really needed though is joined-up international reform of the banking industry .If the UK overhauls its banking industry in a way that is out of step with other countries, the danger is we become uncompetitive as a result."

The region did fare well in terms of support for capital programmes. It was confirmed that funding would be committed to replacing a viaduct carrying the M6 over M1. The Chancellor also said that improvements between Newark and Widmerpool on the A46 would go ahead.

Nottingham will also benefit from the creation of two new tram lines. Osborne used the CSR to outline plans for lines two and three of the city’s tram network.

Leader of Nottingham City Council Councillor Jon Collins said: "This is very good news for Nottingham. We have worked hard to argue the case for two more tram lines because the benefits to Nottingham and the surrounding area are so great that it would be foolish not to pursue with the proposals. I'm pleased that the government has clearly recognised this and the strength of our proposals.

"This go-ahead means the extended tram network can now play its key part in shaping the future prosperity of this city, helping Nottingham to weather the current economic storm and come out the other side stronger and more resilient. The city will be even more attractive to employers as a place to locate, bringing more jobs and creating more wealth for our citizens."

There was good news for electric vehicle manufacturers based in the East Midlands. They could benefit from an increase in sales after Osborne announced the introduction of a £5,000 incentive for the purchase of an electric-powered vehicle.