Kenilworth's MP has urged the Government to provide certainty as quickly as possible when it comes to the local council structures in the county.

Sir Jeremy Wright, the MP for Kenilworth and Southam, was speaking at the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce's Mid-Warwickshire Local Business Forum.

The forum, which was held at Ronnie's Bar in Warwick, is an opportunity for firms in the area to highlight any barriers to growth they are facing and also hear from decision-makers in the region.

Sir Jeremy Wright told the gathered businesses that he believes there has to be more cross-party consensus in order to fix issues over the long-term.

And he urged the Government to 'unpause' the Local Government Reorganisation process that will see two unitary authorities created in Warwickshire.

He said: "If local government is going to say to anybody else that they have to save money, it needs to demonstrate that it has done absolutely everything it can to save money too.

"There are savings to be made from consolidating councils, although everybody in business understands that consolidation itself costs money before the longer-term savings appear.

"The one thing everybody wants from local government reorganisation is certainty. If you work for one of the councils, or if you are trying to engage with one of them, you need to know where this is heading. If change is going to be made, it should be made and completed as soon as possible so that everybody knows who they are dealing with.

"Once that happens, we then have an issue in this part of the world about where we sit in terms of devolution around mayoral authorities because that is where so much power and funding is being devolved too. It's not clear, at this stage, where Warwickshire fits within that. That needs to be clarified as quickly as possible too."

He added that businesses must be supported with the right conditions to grow.

He said: "If you want to grow the economy, the first thing you have to recognise is that the people who provide that growth are the people sitting in this room, not those who sit with me in the House of Commons. Growth comes from persuading businesses to generate

their own piece of economic growth and then putting all of that together for the whole country."

The event also heard from Julia Aratoon, of Warwickshire County Council, who updated the group on the support available to firms in the county through the Warwickshire Business Growth Service.

Phil Baker, who hosted the event, said many of the issues discussed at the forum around rising business costs resonated with him, but that Ronnie's Bar was doing its bit when it comes to offering young people work.

He said: "We have 36 people on the books, which is a significant number for a wet-led bar. National insurance and minimum-wage increases make that extremely difficult, although we have been fortunate in attracting young staff and helping them develop their confidence and social skills.

"The rise in business costs is precisely why we are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. In winter, you have heating, electricity and staff to pay, and the business you bring in doesn't cover costs. We are not closed through choice. We are closed through necessity."

He added: "A five or ten-year plan from Government would at least allow businesses to plan. At the moment, we are looking little further than the end of our noses. If we had certainty, even where the news was difficult, there would at least be some light at the end of the tunnel."