TIME is not on the side of the Assembly or Executive. It has to rapidly produce a budget next month and has two years to publish and implement a Programme for Government. With three wasted years, this Executive must deliver for our local economy in a real and meaningful way.
That’s why its Programme for Government needs to be more than just a deal between five parties. Instead it should also include the key partners in the economy, such as business and wider civic society. The local business community should not be consultees, but should be essential partners in the delivery of prosperity for Northern Ireland.
This Assembly also needs to start long-term strategic thinking for our economy, which goes beyond a single Assembly term of office. Retail NI and our colleagues at Trade NI did just this in our document ‘Vision 2030’, which we launched at the Assembly last week.
Vision 2030 details our ambitious 10-year plan for the local economy and sets out how to make Northern Ireland the best place in the UK and Ireland to shop, socialise, locate and start a business and how to make this region an eco-system of innovation.
Our plan outlines how we can create an environment where business can thrive and grow, how we can reduce the cost of doing business, create 21st century high streets, invest in our infrastructure and revitalise our town centres.
Retail NI wants to see a more agile, strategic and delivery-focused Executive, which will operate like any other coalition administration with collective responsibility, joined-up policy and above all else, deliver more tangible change.
First on the list for Retail NI is fundamental change to our broken and antiquated system of business rates. Finance Minister Conor Murphy must immediately address this and given the impact on local small businesses, rule out any increase in the regional rate when he sets the budget next month.
Retail NI has always been a champion of the City and Growth deals but we also need the Executive to do more to support rural towns and villages, by investing in their high streets and infrastructure, to ensure they are not left behind. The UK Government has set up a Future High Streets and Towns Fund for England to support change and we want to see a similar fund established in Northern Ireland.
Let’s also realise the huge economic potential of our six further education colleges. As a former chair of Colleges NI, I know first-hand of the amazing job they do in developing entrepreneurial skills and creating the next generation of small business owners. We need a new 14-19 strategy, which provides a vocational route, running parallel to academic, from school right through to university.
Retail NI and its members stand ready to work in a new partnership with the Executive and we will bring solutions and new thinking to the many challenges as Northern Ireland starts this new decade and opens a new chapter in its history.
:: Glyn Roberts is chief executive of Retail NI
