ICAEW today launched its manifesto ahead of the 2011 Assembly elections setting out its six priorities and challenges for the new Welsh Government.
The world leader of the accountancy and finance profession, which has 3,000 members in Wales, most of whom advise or run small and medium-sized businesses, listed the priorities in its Manifesto for Sustainable Economic Recovery in Wales as:
GETTING THE BASICS RIGHT: An overriding priority must be given to ensure that those leaving full-time education are equipped with fully functional basic skills. There must be greater financial literacy among pupils leaving school including an understanding of the relationship between income and levels of debt and the need to accumulate wealth during a working to provide for retirement.
BUILDING THE FOUNDATIONS FOR THE FUTURE: The Assembly Government must revisit the balance between capital and revenue spending in order to focus much more clearly on long-term investment, making a strong case to the Treasury, if necessary and looking imaginatively at all forms of leveraging in capital investment.
MAKING ECONOMIC RENEWAL A REALITY: The Assembly Government should carry through the principles of the Economic Renewal Programme without further delay and should place greater emphasis on signposting those seeking business advice to private sector practitioners. There must continue to be a very strong focus on good financial management in both the public and private sectors and its role in ensuring improved business access to finance.
MAKING PUBLIC SERVICES FIT FOR PURPOSE: ICAEW has long believed that 22 local authorities are too many in a country the size of Wales, and the reorganisation of the NHS in Wales shows that the former Assembly Government shared the view that small is not necessarily beautiful in terms of effective public sector delivery. Either a restructuring is needed, or the Assembly Government should build on the platform provided by the new Local Government measure to intervene forcefully to ensure that the widest range of services is shared. It is imperative to push forward with the restructuring of Further and Higher Education which has been signalled by the current Assembly Government.
RISING TO THE GLOBAL CHALLENGE: The Assembly Government needs to be prepared to look at good practice beyond Wales. We should not be afraid to work jointly across the border with England when it makes sense to do so. There must be a much stronger focus on exports from Wales – including exports to the rest of the UK.
LAW MAKING FOR A PURPOSE: Legislation should always be the last, not the first resort. That there is an urgent need to improve regulatory appraisal (particularly the economic assessment of costs and benefits) and to put more robust mechanisms in place for consultation with business. The Assembly Government must engage with business to develop a meaningful system which involves real consultation but is not onerous for individual businesses.
Jeremy Salisbury (pictured), chairman of the ICAEW Strategy Board for Wales, said: “The outlook facing the new Assembly Government which will take office after the elections in May is decidedly different. While the private sector is starting to recover from the worst recession of the last half century, the public sector is having to find new ways of working and to think more rigorously about its priorities in the face of the sharp rebalancing of the public finances initiated by the Government at Westminster.
“This will be particularly challenging for Wales, given the continued large role of public sector employment in the Welsh economy. It is essential that, whatever its political composition, the Assembly Government does not shy away from addressing this challenge head on.
“ICAEW believes that at a time of tough controls on public expenditure, and with the Welsh economy still struggling to fulfil its potential, it is essential for the Assembly Government to prioritise those things that only Government can do – ensure that all those leaving the education system have the skills needed to contribute to economic prosperity, ensure that our core infrastructure is fit for purpose, ensure that public service structures are appropriate and efficient.
“In this context we welcome the direction signalled by the Economic Renewal Programme of focusing more on public intervention in those core areas where the market cannot provide – schools, infrastructure, the health service.”
David Lermon, ICAEW Director for Wales, added that it was essential that the Assembly Government concentrated on adding value to rather than duplicating what the private sector can do, encouraging sound financial management in the public and private sector, encouraging businesses to look to global, not just local markets, as well as encouraging greater access to finance for creditworthy businesses.
“Above all, we need the Assembly Government to be an enabling Government, one that doesn’t think is has all the solutions, or feel that it has to use the new found powers which will flow from the “yes” vote on 3 March to try to micro manage those extensive areas of policy where it now has primary powers.
“We look forward to working with the new Assembly Government in dealing with the issues addressed in this manifesto.”
The manifesto was launched at the Wales Millennium Centre in Cardiff Bay.
