Groups have reacted with disappointment to Alistair Darling's budget, expressing concern that he did not do more to address skills, and green issues.
Intellect, the trade association for the UK technology industry, said that despite best intentions a lot of the initiatives did not go far enough. In a statement the group said, "The chancellor today announced the creation of an advisory committee on SME access. We are waiting to hear who will sit on the committee: it is vital that not only a wide range of sectors, including technology are represented, but also that SMEs are consulted about what the practicalities of such an initiative and what they feel would really help them.
Brown's Business Advisory Council created last year, contained just one technology company, when our sector represents at least 10 percent of gross national product."
It added, "Intellect represents over 800 technology companies of all sizes. In the technology sector SME access to public contracts has been a real issue, particularly in the National Programme for IT and Intellect has been working to improve the situation for smaller companies."
However, one area was praised by the group, "Intellect welcomes the fund for women entrepreneurs and that for getting more people into work. We believe that both these initiatives could have a positive effect on the industry" it said.
Meanwhile, other groups were disappointed by the environmental element of the budget, with IT consultancy DMW saying that it did little to encourage businesses to adopt green initiatives and reduce their carbon footprint.
David Elwen, director at IT consultancy DMW, said, “The budget’s focus on the Climate Change Levy (CCL) on businesses falls short of enabling the UK to meet its target of reducing carbon emissions.
Considering the CCL was introduced to encourage businesses to reduce their contribution to carbon emissions, it is surprising that there is a lack of hard hitting action to encourage businesses to adopt green policies in the budget. The approach continues to involve small increases to taxes rather than a combination of taxes to discourage undesirable behaviour and rewards to stimulate desired behaviour. As such this will be viewed by cynics as just another increase in the business tax burden."
