Confidence in Labour falls

Nine out of ten management accountants have little or no confidence in the
government, according to a new survey which described the support as ‘extremely
low’.

Only 11% of the 609 accountants surveyed by CIMA said they had confidence in
the current administration, with a third saying they did not see the usefulness
of some government-backed schemes.

CIMA brand director, Ray Perry, said respondents were unimpressed with
Labour’s stimulus policies, citing the reduction in VAT as one example which
resulted in increased red tape and little real gain. In the survey 71% of
accountants said the government’s 2.5% reduction in VAT ‘has made no change at
all to their business performance’.

Companies’ expansion plans have become another casualty, according to the
survey which found just under half of accountants believe their company is more
reluctant to expand into new markets compared with 12 months ago. ‘Management
accountants are so bogged down getting through the day to day that they have had
to put expansion plans under wraps,’ said Perry.

There was some optimism, however, with 37% of respondents believing the
recession will end by at least June next year, representing a 12% increase on
the previous quarter’s figures. Just under half of respondents believed their
businesses would survive the downturn, while 38% said they were ‘extremely
confident’ of their prospects.