Bureaucracy is a disincentive

First published in the www.suffolkfreepress.co.uk & www.dissexpress.co.uk Thursday April 30, 2020.

Another month, another column dominated by COVID-19, I’m afraid. 

The way different entities have responded to the pandemic has confirmed me in my fundamental Libertarian beliefs - that the best government is small government and the more control individuals have to make decisions the better the outcomes will be.

Firstly, however well intentioned, big state institutions have struggled to deliver the right solutions.

Unlike private sector supply chains, the state has approached the acquisition of personal protective equipment (PPE) in an utterly bureaucratic manner. This has resulted in inadequate and unfit supplies being delivered to the wrong frontline services at the wrong time.

The embarrassing farce of a military plane having to fly to Turkey to pick up half of an order that seemed stuck in that country sums up vividly the utter inadequacy of Central Government purchasing teams.

More locally, I am aware of business contacts in the logistics and warehousing sectors who have acquired the highest grade PPE, but whose offer to supply this at cost (i.e. no profit) to local hospitals and other key providers remains unanswered. 

In other words, local public sector procurement teams have once again proven themselves to be focussed first and foremost on process and box ticking, as opposed to delivering urgent positive solutions.

Contrast this institutionalised sloth with the energy and inventiveness of both the private sector and our wider civil society. Local manufacturers have speedily adapted their processes and technologies to produce large quantities of medical equipment and there is probably not a village in Suffolk that hasn’t seen residents coming together to produce everything from visors to scrubs.

Although I backed the immediate necessity behind a whole range of Government schemes designed to both boost the cash flow of businesses and protect jobs once the pandemic eases, the bureaucracy and muddle in applying for such support is a massive disincentive.

The application form for the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS) is vast. I must have spent a week, to date, working on the detail required, with probably another week's worth to go before it's even in first draft.

 

Research from Suffolk Chamber of Commerce shows that only a very small minority of applicants to CBILS have actually secured a loan. Not surprising given all the hoops they have to jump through.

 

The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS) which allows firms to ‘furlough’ their staff, is equally clunky. The seven-page guidance and even the online calculator are confusing and seemingly inaccurate, as the way they calculate entitlement seems to mean that my business wouldn’t actually get the 80% promised – more like 66%.

 

In any case, a much simpler and less interventionist approach would be to use existing systems. Businesses are registered to pay NI/PAYE, VAT, Business Rates & Corporation Tax. These systems already exist to take our money so why did the Government waste six weeks inventing a new system to give it back to us? Why not just let us keep it in the first place, like they did with the VAT deferral to the end of this fiscal year?

 

The mainstream media have played their usual gloomy part in minimising those parts of the economy that have proven to be robust and who will lead us out of the current economic difficulties. 

 

Their relentless attacks on our hardworking ministers, including our prime minister who is still recovering from COVID-19, as they grapple with unprecedented challenges, is a disgrace.

 

No surprise then that the YouGov/Sky News poll of 20/21 April showed national TV and newspaper journalists were the least trusted professions – far less than those same Government ministers.

But the signs of recovery are there. Early last month my own company recently saw the arrival of our first Chinese shipment since the extended Chinese New Year break. This is an important lead indicator as it shows that China, the engine of much international trade, is beginning to come out of its own lockdown.

This consignment was not a one-off as by the time you read this my business will have received further shipments and will be working at full capacity.

 

As a result, I’ve now recalled all my staff to cope with the demand, meaning I can pause my battle with the CJRS and other Government bureaucracy – for the time-being at least.

Ends.