As the country awaits Chancellor Philip Hammond’s first Spring Statement this afternoon, the BBC is reporting he will announce extra money for social care in England and to help firms faced with hikes in business rates, as well as an additional £500m for vocational and technical teaching in England.

Commenting on the expected boost for social care funding, Peter Cullimore, chairman at social care staffing specialist Universal Care, gave a cautious welcome but added the devil will be in the detail.

He told Recruiter: “We will have to look at the details and the way it is going to be split between local authorities, which I haven’t seen at the moment.

“Anything like that is good news but what I think everyone is hoping for is a medium and long-term review about long-term funding.

“There’s been so much talk about tying in the NHS and local authority social services – it’s been talked about for 10-15 years and very little is happening except in a few places like Liverpool but very few places are doing this.”

Meanwhile Ed Vokes, founder and director of London-based agency Evolve Hospitality, who earlier this week criticised government for anticipated hikes in business rates this April, told Recruiter: “I’d like to see them give us help … it would be great but I’m very cynical about these things and we’ll see.

“A business like mine that turns over plenty of money but actually you have to pay sh*tloads of the turnover to casual staff, we’re always out of scope with these things, which is unfortunate but that’s just how it is.”

And David Leyshon, chairman at technical recruiter CBSbutler, welcomed the additional – albeit in his view late – funding, to long-term STEM skills development.

“Given the long acknowledged skill gaps and shortages, particularly in STEM roles, this announcement is a big boost, albeit distinctly late coming.

“Even taking into account the threat of access to EU workers post-Brexit, we were playing a massive catch-up game. The competiveness of UK industry is under real threat. Notably, it’s been estimated that by 2022 one in five 21-year-olds will need to enter the engineering sector just to keep pace with demand – some challenge! 

“Clearly, the availability of maintenance loans is a great move to attract young people and the re-focus on vocational training linked to employer needs is just what industry has been crying out for.”

Owen Goodhead, managing director of Randstad Construction, Property & Engineering, said the chancellor’s planned investment recognition the UK's productivity gap is fast becoming a chasm.

"This allocation of funds is not just about future-proofing our workforce, it's about reversing the effects of years of putting academia over and above technical vocations and practical trades.

“Today’s jobs market is candidate-driven because of an already crippling skills shortage in some industries, putting more pressure on companies to find, attract and retain talent. The housing crisis, for example, is also a STEM skills crisis.

“We estimate the UK is facing a workforce shortfall of 3.1m people by 2050 due to a combination of skills shortages, an ageing workforce and restrictive migration policy.

"Funnelling money towards school leavers is the right tactic but pupils need to start thinking about technical skills from an even younger age. Change must start from the grass roots.”

Earlier this week, the Financial Times reported the Chancellor would use this afternoon’s address to announce a government review into how different workers are taxed.

Commenting on this expected announcement, Julia Kermode, CEO of the Freelancer & Contractor Services Association (FCSA), an independent trade association whose members provide professional support services to freelancers and contractors, told Recruiter in a statement: "Self-employment is on the rise and with it the rights and working practices of contingent workers have increasingly come under the spotlight too. However, I would appeal to the Chancellor to await the full outcome of Matthew Taylor’s ‘Independent Review of Employment Practices in the Modern Economy’ before making any announcements in the Budget that might once again result in rushing through legislation that could have serious negative implications for contingent workers.

“We have seen a raft of recent tax policy changes that have penalised the self-employed over the last few years, leaving them financially worse off and under-valued by a government that purports to recognise the economic importance of the flexible workforce. It is widely acknowledged that this group of workers have played an important role in the UK’s economic recovery to date so I would call on the policy makers not to penalise them any more – they have been the financial backbone of the UK in recent years.”