Chancellor Urged To 'Take Action' In Building Sector

The DUPs Sammy Wilson has called on Chancellor George Osborne to "take action to save thousands of jobs" in the building sector.

Mr Wilson, MP for East Antrim, made the call during Treasury Questions in the House of Commons on Wednesday.

"The market for concrete products runs into hundreds of millions of pounds across the UK and until recently we were net exporters of these items but now run a balance of payments deficit on the trade because of an influx of imported products," Mr Wilson said.

"This is not due to the poor quality or lack of competitiveness of the industry, it is down to the taxes imposed on home produced items through the Aggregates Levy another environmental tax which is not imposed by governments in the RoI or other EU competitor countries.

"Over 2000 jobs in N.I. depend upon the manufacture of concrete products from simple concrete blocks to highly engineered items for bridges and sectional buildings. There are scores of jobs in the sector in East Antrim and many located along the border where firms are most vulnerable. The fact that producers just across the border can benefit by hundreds of pounds through tax differences does not make economic sense.

"I am pleased that the minister has promised to look at this issue and trust that the government will respond positively to create a level playing field by ensuring that producers of these products wherever they are located face the same tax burden. This would be good for jobs, would help reduce our massive multi billion pound  Balance of Payments deficit and contribute to the target of increasing manufacturing jobs."

(MH/LM)