EEF hits out at selfish European sentiment

Addressing the annual dinner of the manufacturers' organisation EEF and its guest of honour, business secretary Vince Cable, chairman Martin Temple (pictured) will urge government to maintain a national focus on skills funding, particularly apprenticeships, rather than devolving control to Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs). Temple will also insist that EU negotiations should be about making it better for all its members rather than negotiating a uniquely better deal for Britain. Temple, a long-time chief executive of EEF before becoming its chairman, said: "All areas on public spending must be subject to the same level of scrutiny on what they deliver for stronger, better balanced growth. Just as there can be no free passes or sacred cows for any area of public spending or any government department, the money to fund growth must be substantial. We can't keep looking at the same departments again and again to find the savings from their budgets On Skills, Martin Temple will say: "On skills we have a once in a generation opportunity to strip out the bureaucracy that has plagued business for decades, and create a proper market in training where funding flows through the customer – and that's the company making the investment. We cannot now afford to undermine this by giving LEPs control over how funding for skills is spent." Turning to Europe, he said the debate about the future of the EU needed to be of a higher quality, adding, "Let's be clear: most businesspeople think EU membership is crucial." Governments should, he went on, be on working from inside the EU. "This should be the starting point – not seeking to renegotiate a uniquely better deal, however enticing that may seem," he concluded.