It is good to see the Federation for Small Businesses (FSB) adopting a welcome shift of position in its Business Manifesto for the 2015-2020 Government issued during the Party Conference season.
Infrastructure is a central part of what the FSB Manifesto has to say on rebalancing the economy. Specifically on HS2 the FSB says the 2015-2020 Government should
- Take regional economic priorities into account and ensure the regions are integrated into plans when delivering HS2, maximising growth in the regions
- Guarantee HS2 investment is additional, so that it is not at the expense of much-needed investment in the rest of the UK’s transport infrastructure
- Make HS2 a ‘best-in-class’ small business public procurement programme, opening up HS2 procurement to small firms across the UK
This means the FSB, CBI and British Chambers of Commerce all now provide welcome support for HS2.