London has been a beacon of economic success in the last 10 to 15 years. Our businesses, led by the financial services sector, have gone head-to-head with the world’s best. But over the past few years the world has changed, and Government now faces major challenges in designing policies that will both enable a return to a balanced budget and support sustainable long-term economic growth, without negatively affecting our global competitiveness.

London First works to ensure that we have the right fiscal framework for recovery, making London’s case  around spending decisions and processes to Government.

Our report – Supporting UK growth while balancing the budget – summarises our approach to balancing the budget and supporting growth, from the perspective of business in London.

Key themes

Efficiency gains should be the starting point for reducing government spending. By involving more private sector experience and expertise in delivery, substantial savings should be possible. Building on this report, we have published a further paper, A Job Worth Doing, which sets out ways of making efficiency savings in the education and skills sector.

A framework for decision making, based on robust and consistently applied cost-benefit analysis, will enhance the credibility of choices and decisions being made, where expenditure cuts prove necessary.

Maintaining planned investment in London’s transport infrastructure is critical to the country’s future growth. The committed public expenditure is substantial – but modest compared with the scale of London’s economy and the benefits it will bring to the UK as a whole. Read more in our report Greater Returns: Transport Priorities for Economic Growth (June 2010).

Tax policy – A crucial element of London and the UK’s competitiveness – must take account of the factors that underpin the capital’s success, including the highly mobile nature of money and people in and out of London and London’s role as a global business centre. Read more in our report A Balanced Tax Policy: Supporting UK Growth (June 2010).