BUSINESS leaders in Bucks want the Chancellor to make promoting investment in training a key priority in next week's Budget, according to the Thames Valley Chamber of Commerce & Industry.

The Thames Valley Chamber has joined colleagues in chambers around the country in urging Mr Brown to introduce a wide range package of reform to boost skills and productivity.

The chambers are also calling for a reduction in the burden of business taxation, a new drive to cut red tape and measures to tackle traffic congestion.

Frank Stroud, chief executive at the Thames Valley chamber said: "This is a radical and enterprising submission to the Chancellor which contains a range of practical measures to promote job creation and growth.

The Chamber has long argued that investment in staff training and development is crucial, and it is vital the Government boosts support for this approach through the tax system."

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), which has more than 2,000 members in the Thames Valley region, is calling on the Chancellor to substantially increase personal allowances to curb the growth of the informal economy.

Gill Perkins, regional organiser, said: "Successive governments have attempted and failed to cut down on the growth of the informal economy. We are convinced that a more practical solution to this problem is to remove low paid earners (both employees and self-employed) from income tax altogether."

Other measures the FSB would like to see in the Budget include the withdrawal of the Climate Change Levy and a reduction in the regulatory and administrative burden to enable entrepreneurs to devote more time and effort to their core activities.

Meanwhile the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) would like to see a fairly tight Budget, leaving scope for interest rates to be reduced further as the inflation outlook allows.

It also wants a commitment to review the climate change levy before next year.