1. The Tories have pledged to invest £100bn in infrastructure during this parliament, referring to “the biggest investment in rail since Victorian times [amounting to £38bn invested to 2019] and the most extensive improvements to our roads since the 1970s”.
According to a the Association for Consultancy and Engineering, the new government’s spending pledges include £13bn on transport to help create the “Northern Powerhouse” with road developments such as the A1, M62, M1 and A555 link road; the electrification of main rail routes; the construction of the northern hub network and new trains. The region also stands to benefit from the east-west HS3 route.
In the south west, there is the prospect of upgrades to the M5, A358, A30 and A303, plus electrification of the Great Western Main Line to enable fast trains to run on the route.
Plans for the Midlands include upgrades to the M1 and M6 and electrification of the main line from St Pancras to Sheffield, while the east of England will see the A11 and A47 being upgraded and faster connections to Norwich and Ipswich by rail.
The ACE also points to the wishlist of the SNP: the result in Scotland could encourage it to push for one of its manifesto proposals, a high-speed line linking Edinburgh and the north of England.
In the south-east, the proposed airport expansion could well dominate the headlines: in the manifesto the Tories promised to respond to the Airports Commission and increase capacity.
John Hicks, UK head of government and public at Aecom, said: “After months of political uncertainty, the focus now must be on turning infrastructure promises into on-the-ground project delivery. A majority government is good for business. It has the powers to make the bold decisions required to deliver the UK’s much-needed major infrastructure programmes. We look to the new administration to help industry roll up its sleeves and deliver.”
2. The Conservatives also pledged to build more affordable homes, including 200,000 Starter Homes, which will be sold at a 20% discount, and will be built exclusively for first-time buyers under the age of 40. It will also extend Help to Buy to cover another 120,000 homes.
Steve Errington, chief executive of Story Homes, said: “Under the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition we saw the introduction of the Help to Buy ISA and the Help to Buy Scheme which has been extended until 2020. These schemes have allowed many new homeowners to access home ownership and we’re pleased their future is certain.
“We would like the new government to look at supporting affordable mortgages and a return to high loan-to-value mortgage products. A normalisation of a 5-10% deposit for customers would help to stimulate housebuilding.”
3. The new government is planning an extension of Right to Buy, by offering discounts worth up to £102,700 in London and £77,000 in the rest of England, but not in Scotland or Wales, where Right to Buy is being abolished. There are around 2.5 million housing association tenants, and of those around 1.3 million have lived in the property for three or more years and would be given the opportunity to buy.
Eddie Tuttle, senior policy manager at the CIOB, said: “The issue lies not with demand, but with supply. At a time when we are building barely half the homes that the country needs, evidence from the existing Right to Buy programme does not suggest that one house sold will result in another built.”
4. The mainfesto commits the party to hold a referendum on membership of the EU by 2017.
British Property Federation chief execuitve Melanie Leech said: “The prospect of an EU Referendum will inject uncertainty into the equation, and it is important to have clarity about its parameters and timetable as soon as possible.”
John Cridland, director general of the CBI, said: “With an EU referendum now likely, business will want to see an ambitious, achievable reform agenda that will make both the UK and Europe more competitive and prosperous for all. The majority of businesses want to stay in a reformed European Union which opens up the world’s largest market of 500 million consumers.”
5. The manifesto includes a pledge to create 3 million new apprenticeships. It also sets out a plan to replace Jobseeker’s Allowance for 18-21-year-olds with a Youth Allowance for six months only – after that, young people will have to take an apprenticeship, traineeship or do community work
John Newcomb, managing director of the Builders’ Merchants Federation, said: “The government must now ensure that future funding provision is sufficiently attractive to encourage employers to invest in apprentices and provide high-quality apprenticeship programmes. To ensure apprenticeships remain as a key building block in supporting strong economic growth, we remind the government that exemption from paying National Insurance contributions on earnings is a popular and effective incentive and we look forward to seeing how the proposed Apprenticeship Voucher scheme will contribute to this when further details are released.”
6. There will be a requirement for companies with more than 250 employees to publish their gender pay gap – the difference between average pay for male and female employees.
Kathryn Nawrockyi, gender equality director at Business in the Community, said: “As the new government takes office, we want to see a focus on ensuring that all workplaces have inclusive cultures where all staff have opportunities to fulfil their career aims, addressing the gender pay gap and tackling occupational segregation, especially of women in low-paid work. We will continue to work with the new government and with businesses, to ensure that these policies work for employers and the women – and men – they employ.”
7. The Conservatives have pledged to open “at least” 500 free schools over the next five years – although the Liberal Democrats’ pre-election response was that this would put a £5bn hole in the schools budget. The party’s manifesto also states that it will allow all good schools to expand, “including state maintained, free schools, academies and grammar schools”. One of education secretary Nicky Morgan’s first decisions will be on the application by a grammar school in Tonbridge, Kent, to open an “annexe” 10 miles away: if approved this could pave the way for more grammars to open.
