The 2024 UK Budget: IWFM responds 

News

A weight of expectation has accompanied the new UK government’s 2024 Budget, the first Labour Budget since March 2010.  

This fiscal event was trailed as following a Labour election pledge not to raise taxes on working people, resulting in no increase to National Insurance, VAT and income tax for employees in this budget.  

Key themes include investment in skills, regional development and R&D, as well as a commitment to new opportunities for small and medium sized businesses. For granular insight into government spending priorities, updates on new fiscal rules and more, read the analysis in Facilitate Daily. 

In our Priorities for the next Government: 2024 general election manifesto we covered several areas in the Government’s agenda for change seen as critical by the Institute’s members, not least the technology skills so needed to optimise the workplace and facilities management (WFM) opportunity to impact the wider economy.  

The growth potential in our sector is being stymied by a skills gap. With today’s rapid change, getting the skills needed to harness new opportunities for growth should be central to the government’s industrial strategy, so we are pleased to see this prioritisation. Upskilling and reskilling are core to our agenda, from creating new opportunities for diverse talent pools – school leavers, new graduates, returners to work, service leavers – to enabling professionals to reach new heights in their career, facilitated through accessible, innovative and industry-recognised training and qualifications.  

As the CEO said yesterday, IWFM is glad to see the financial foundations in place to address the government’s priorities in growing the economy and developing a coherent plan to achieve net zero. The government’s support for environmental measures such as incentives for electric vehicles, carbon capture and storage resonate with IWFM’s long-term sustainability agenda. Through our original research, collaboration with the community and partners, these are matters the WFM profession can serve as a lynchpin and where our members want government to deliver.  

We welcome the increase in the National Living Wage, which we have long advocated. This matters to ensure that workers are properly rewarded but pay is also a driver of equality, diversity and inclusion which is key in our sector. Ahead of the forthcoming Living Wage Week, we take this opportunity to highlight the recent Living Wage Toolkit, which is a useful guide for businesses looking to learn more about the Living Wage, become Living Wage Accredited and discover the positive outcomes that can be realised. 

We do recognise the challenges rising costs represent for the smaller firms in our sector, working with fine margins, and a need for balance.   

The commitment to act on the findings of the Grenfell Tower Inquiry is a meaningful opportunity to drive growth in our sector and improving building safety and building competence beyond compliance. Our suite of resources on building safety seeks to educate, inform and motivate the WFM community to ensure they’re compliant, aware of the latest legislation and working proactively to ensure health and safety.  Moving forward we will be thinking about how to optimise buildings from these perspectives underpinned by information management – and supporting the launch of the forthcoming information management initiative. 

Information management, data and technology alongside achieving sustainable outcomes will continue to be critical for our members and are areas that of focus for insights and best practice to support our members.  

Look out for our forthcoming Guidance Note with Equans, Building business cases for sustainability, and our upcoming 2024 Sustainability Report - read the 2023 report here.  
 
We will continue to advocate for our community as the budget takes effect, helping to shape the Budget’s pledges into effective policy.