Bruce Cartwright

It’s time for the government to be transparent with the public about the potential impacts of the hard choices needed to balance the books. 

Since the election in July, we’ve listened to politicians and pundits pick apart manifesto promises or bemoan previous government decisions, but what the public and businesses want are transparent and solution-focused discussions about the economy. For instance, how we’ll pay for public services, what options are open to the new government to raise revenue, and what the impact of these measures might be in the short and long term. 

This means being frank about the likely, and sometimes unintended, consequences of making tough decisions about the country’s finances. For example, if the government decides to increase employer national insurance contributions (NICs), it needs to be upfront about the fact that that this will impact working people, not just businesses. Creating a bigger NICs bill for employers could lead them to hire fewer people, limit pay rises, or even pay less pension contributions.  

The new Labour government also needs to provide clarity on which parts of its manifesto might not be implemented right now and tell us how they’ll achieve their plans in the long term. Or, if the government chooses to increase spending to deliver its planned public service improvements, it needs to be clear about how these will be paid for and let us monitor and see visible benefits from that spending. 

Alongside this call for greater transparency, ICAS recommends that the Autumn Budget includes three main tax elements: 

1. A long-term tax strategy which sets out the government’s vision for a more strategic, simplified tax system to replace the constant knee jerk changes at every budget. This will give businesses of all sizes the certainty they desperately need to plan for the future and make the system easier to use for everyone.
2. An environmental tax roadmap, which supports the delivery of net zero and includes incentives for greener business behaviour.
3. Urgent additional resourcing of HMRC, not just for the purposes of collecting unpaid tax, but so that it can provide a fit-for-purpose advice and guidance service to users.

Bruce Cartwright is CEO of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS)