1.82 In addition to fiscal consolidation and monetary activism, the Government will accelerate its supply side reforms to build a stronger and more balanced economy in the medium term. After a period in which the UK lost ground to the rest of the world, recent evidence suggests that the UK is becoming a more competitive place to do business.1
1.83 The first phase of the Growth Review, led by the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, was published alongside Budget 2011 in The Plan for Growth.2 Work has started on all 137 commitments and substantial progress has been made. Full details on progress have been published alongside the Autumn Statement.3
1.84 This section sets out further reforms the Government is undertaking to achieve each of the four overarching ambitions for the UK economy set out in The Plan for Growth:
• encouraging investment and exports as a route to a more balanced economy;
• creating a more educated workforce that is the most flexible in Europe;
• making the UK the best place in Europe to start, finance and grow a business; and
• creating the most competitive tax system in the G20.
1.85 This section also includes details of £6.3 billion, of which £1.3 billion was announced earlier in the autumn, of additional infrastructure spending over the Spending Review 2010 period funded through savings, and around £1 billion of new private sector investment in regulated industries supported by government guarantee.4 The full list of over 140 new measures is set out in Annex A.5 The Government is also announcing commitments to £5 billion of capital projects in the next Spending Review period, as part of a National Infrastructure Plan, and is working with UK pension funds to unlock an additional £20 billion of investment in infrastructure. In total the Autumn Statement supports around £30 billion of new capital investment.
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1 Between 1998 and 2010 the UK fell from 4th to 12th in the World Economic Forum's (WEF) Global Competitiveness Index. Since the beginning of the Parliament, the UK has re-entered the top 10.
2 The Plan for Growth, HM Treasury and the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, March 2011.
3 Available on the HM Treasury website at www.hm-treasury.gov.uk
4 Capital value of Network Rail investment, see Table 2.3.
5 The costs set out in this chapter and Annex A are the whole life costs of each scheme, and do not include the cost of Barnett consequentials for the devolved administrations. For these reasons, not all costs will reconcile with Table 2.3, which sets out costs over the Spending Review 2010 period and includes Barnett consequentials where appropriate.