Budget 2017: Philip Hammond announces new £2.5bn investment fund and £500m for tech industry

Government is set invest in a range of initiatives from artificial intelligence, to 5G and full fibre broadband, the chancellor said

Chancellor Philip Hammond has announced £2.5bn of investment to kickstart the UK’s lacklustre productivity.

The British Business Bank will be seeded with £2.5bn of public money, Mr Hammond said. The Government is also set invest over £500m in a range of initiatives from artificial intelligence, to 5G and full fibre broadband, the chancellor announced in his budget speech on Wednesday.

“We have some of the world’s best companies and a commanding position in a raft of tech and digital industries that will form the backbone of the global economy of the future,” Mr Hammond said.

“Those who underestimate Britain do so at their peril.”

“Because we will harness this potential and turn it into the high paid high productivity jobs of tomorrow,” Mr Hammond said.

“Others may choose to reject the future, we choose to embrace it.

“A new tech business is funded every hour and I want that to be every half hour. So today we invest over £500m in a range of initiatives from artificial intelligence to 5G and full-fibre broadband.

“We support regulatory innovation with a new regulator’s pioneer fund and a new geospatial data commission to develop a strategy for using the government’s location data to support economic growth and to help our tech start-ups reach scale.

Productivity growth in the UK remains weak and the job prospects of many adults are "hurt" by poor literacy and numeracy skills, according to a report from Paris-based think tank the OECD on Monday.

It said lifelong learning should be encouraged among adults and more should be done to promote skills.

Its study found that the share of young adults enrolled in vocational education and training has risen to 43 per cent, but remains lower than many European countries.