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Commenting on the recent Autumn Statement, Ian Brinkley, chief economist at Lancaster University’s Work Foundation, said:

'The extra support for apprenticeships is welcome but does not seem to be well targeted. There will be considerable deadweight from subsidising apprenticeships that would be provided anyway. Investing directly in the apprenticeship system, such as the Trailblazers initiative is crucial to producing high quality and longer term improvements.

“The Chancellor rightly focused on productivity tied to measures on infrastructure and support for R&D. However, the increase in the R&D tax credit for SMEs from 225% to 230% is very unlikely to increase R&D spending. Overall, the Autumn Statement provides relatively little additional support for private business investment.'


Notes to editors

1. Ian Brinkley, chief economist and Geraint Johnes, director are both available for interviews, blogs, briefings, analysis, and written comment.
2. The Work Foundation transforms people’s experience of work and the labour market through high quality applied research that empowers individuals and influences public policies and organisational practices. The Work Foundation is part of Lancaster University – an alliance that enables both organisations to further enhance their impact. 


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