IFS' Paul Johnson to address this year's Business South conference

Well-known commentator and director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) Paul Johnson will be the headline speaker at Business South's annual conference on November 9.

A regular voice on the BBC Radio and a column writer for The Times, Johnson said he planned to address the UK priorities identified by PM Rishi Sunak at the beginning of the year and update on progress on getting inflation down and living standards up, getting growth going, and reducing debt.

He also told an interview with Business South prior to the conference at the Hilton at the Ageas Bowl that there was a strong case for a devolved government in the South East for future business prosperity.

"A proper region of joined up government would certainly help. There is a strong case for devolved government covering the sort of geography covered by the Central South," he said.

On his leading role at the IFS, Johnson added: "We have no official role. No one has to listen and we exist only by happenstance – and yet we are quite influential.

"Sometimes it’s easy to forget quite how influential we are. We have to be very, very careful about the strength of what we say – we are in a privileged position of being able to comment without the responsibility of power."

Johnson said he would "inevitably" also be talking about the NHS.

"We have 7.5 million people on NHS waiting lists, five million on disability benefits and half a million people who are out of work with a disability."

Until six months ago, Johnson also sat on the Climate Change committee and is well versed in the green energy challenges the UK faces.

"I have some sympathy with Rishi Sunak and the admission he made that we are not going to be in a position in 12 years to ban gas boilers because not every house is capable of having a heat pump," he said.

"The hardest thing is going to be de-carbonising housing. I live in a terraced house in London and I’ve got no idea how to power my house without a gas boiler.

"Looking back, when the country moved from town gas to North Sea gas it took 15 years and involved five visits to every house in the country.

"If we are serious about getting to zero by 2050 it’s a huge undertaking and very expensive at a time when there’s not a lot of money around."

Leigh-Sara Timberlake, the group CEO of Business South, said: "We are privileged to welcome Paul as our keynote speaker and we very much look forward to hearing what he has to say.

"We have a fabulous line-up of speakers and it looks set to be a vibrant morning of discussion and idea sharing."

Business South has joined forces with independent bookshop October Books from Portswood, Southampton and Johnson will be signing copies of his recently published book 'Follow the Money' following his speech.

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