§ Q63. Mrs. Renée Shortasked the Prime Minister if she will make a statement on the recommendations about employment policy in the report "Financing the Future" by the Confederation of British Industry, a copy of which has been sent to her.
§ The Prime MinisterThe CBI's report argues for a release of resources to the private sector as vital to the success of the economy. Within this, it calls for an increase in spending on infrastructure, especially roads, pointing to its beneficial impact on the economy generally, including employment. But the CBI stresses that this extra capital expenditure should be more than offset by reductions in public sector current spending. The Government's policies are similarly directed to containing public spending and borrowing as the best route to a growing economy and lasting jobs. Since we first took office in 1979, capital spending on national roads has increased by about a quarter in real terms.