Making our point
1 Mar 10
Douglas Nisbet explains the thinking behind the pre-election briefing that ICAS is sending out to the UK’s political parties
by Douglas Nisbet
It was another, slightly grander President – France’s Charles de Gaulle – who famously arrived at the conclusion that politics was too serious a matter to be left to the politicians. Inspired by the General’s example, the Institute has produced a short pre-election briefing, Beyond the Numbers, which aims to influence and inform politicians of all parties of our views on how government can improve accountability and performance in business and the public sector ahead of a likely general election in late spring.
The document, which is available on the ICAS website, makes suggestions in the areas of Whole of Government Accounts, improving the tax system, ethics in business, pension provision, supporting profitable business and sustaining the charity sector. It’s a broad sweep, and it includes a lot of ideas pulled together from the hundreds of members who volunteer for our committees.
One common theme runs through the majority of the document – politicians can use financial information in a much smarter way to deliver better policy outcomes and greater transparency.
Achieving this aim will be fundamentally important in the coming years. As we know, the UK has a very large deficit to tackle, confidence in the economy is fragile and there is no certainty about what will happen when the government, of whatever political hue, chooses to withdraw artificial stimulus. It is in all our interests that whoever sits in the House of Commons in the next few years is as capable as possible of understanding the balance sheet of UK plc.
It is important that those who make the most important decisions on behalf of taxpayers are in command of good-quality financial information and have a basic grasp of economic and business issues. Politicians are likely to face an increasingly strident challenge from all sections of society to demonstrate that they have solutions to very difficult problems. That’s because I believe that the coming years will witness the emergence of UK citizens who are more financially aware.
This trend will be driven by a number of factors – the need for many who could previously rely on final salary pension arrangements to think more carefully about how they provide for retirement; the pain of a growing tax bill for thousands of citizens; a more uncertain housing market and an apparent growing sense of unfairness at the rewards earned by individuals in certain sectors.
At the same time, major structural changes are taking place within the financial marketplace. In terms of consumer advice, the retail distribution review will bring in big changes to the way that independent financial advisers operate. There will be more transparency around fees and why certain products are recommended over others. The roll-out of personal pension accounts for all low to middle earners from 2012 could also lead to profound changes in financial attitudes as many more citizens embrace a savings culture and develop an understanding of how money grows (and shrinks).
The Institute has a positive role to play if politicians, as they should do, seek as clear an understanding as possible of the economic issues that will affect the country and its people in the coming years. This document marks an important step in the journey.
See also Institute, page 60. Beyond the Numbers is available to download, free, from the ICAS website at www.icas.org.uk