ACCA welcomes additional £250 million for infrastructure in Northern Ireland.
Following today’s Autumn statement ACCA (Association of Chartered Certified Accountants)
has welcomed the increase in the allocation of infrastructure funding of over
£250 million to the Northern Ireland Executive as well as the National Productivity Investment Fund of £23 billion which will provide support for local economic prosperity.
Commenting on the need for regional infrastructural, Anthony Walters, ACCA’s head of policy for Western Europe, says: “ACCA firmly welcomes the Chancellor’s commitment to boost infrastructure spending, both physical and digital. This will be critical to the delivery of the Government’s new industrial strategy which focuses heavily on the role of devolution. With ambitions for booming regional economies that are strongly interlinked nationally and internationally, significant and long–term investment in both new and existing infrastructure will be essential: whether that be roads, ports or airports.”
“Productivity in the UK lags at around 25% behind France, German and the US. With higher productivity comes higher wages and higher standards of living, so the investment announced today is a positive step towards cracking the productivity puzzle.”
“If infrastructure delivery is reliant on public and private partnerships, then it is vital that the public sector has the right skills to manage the development of large scale capital infrastructure projects over the long term.”
Public Sector
Commenting on the Chancellor’s support for the digital agenda, Manj Kalar, ACCA’s head of Public Sector said, “ACCA welcomes the Chancellor’s commitment to furthering the digital agenda which is not only beneficial to business but to the public sector too. Economies like Estonia already offer 99% of their public services online and it’s clear from our own research that technology will be a key skill that employers will need in the future. The question is whether the public sector can attract and retain the talented staff needed to support such innovative practices. After all, it was only two weeks ago that the Civil Service People Survey 2016 showed staff morale plummeting.”
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