Clinton says transparency in spending key to building taxpayer trust

Taxation policies must be linked to how public funds are spent, with public confidence hinging on efficient and transparent service delivery, according to the GSD’s shadow Minister for Public Finance, Roy Clinton.

In an interview with the Chronicle, Mr Clinton reiterated the GSD’s call for greater transparency, accountability and restraint in public spending, warning that the current approach to public finances was unsustainable.

He acknowledged the need for governments to raise funds but said taxpayers must see value in return.

“My firm belief is that the government should only tax to the degree that they need to tax,” Mr Clinton said.

“And the need to tax is to provide the services that the taxpayers are effectively paying for.”

“The taxpayer has a reasonable expectation that the tax money that is raised is spent in an efficient, economic and effective manner, which are the three E's of value for money.”

“And if you are spending that money wisely in accordance with value-for-money principles, then the taxpayer can have trust and confidence that for every pound paid in tax - whether it's corporate, personal tax or indirect tax - you are getting the best possible outcome for that money.”

“If you are spending that money in that way, it reduces the need for taxation.”

Mr Clinton reiterated the GSD’s longstanding position of the need to reinforce checks and balances in public finances.

This includes empowering the Principal Auditor, establishing a Public Accounts Committee in Parliament and improving scrutiny of government-owned companies, which the GSD says are opaque.

He was critical of what he described as a culture of “ghosting the taxpayer”, meaning shifting the onus from government spending to the public’s expectation without addressing inefficiencies in government spending.

“The public are willing to pay taxes… but they are perfectly entitled to say: I’ve given you X amount. Could you have done better with that same money?”

Mr Clinton accepted that there must be a realistic conversation about what the Government can afford to provide.

But he also insisted that such expectations are based on a social contract: that government services will be delivered competently and honestly, and that ministers will lead by example.

“People will only tighten their belts if they see that that is true across the board and that starts at the top,” he said.

“If the general public have been asked to manage their expectations and tighten their belts, that has to got to start with Government.”

Mr Clinton said the burden of taxation should be borne by those who can most bear it and that any taxation should be graduated according to the ability to pay.

“Governments need to do their best to avoid making a call on the public for taxation and the only way to do that is to look at the value for money areas on how that money is spent,” he said.

Mr Clinton said some areas of public spending such as healthcare and education need not be areas for political argument, given most governments want the same for the citizens.

But to avoid political rows, the pursuit of those goals must be done in a cross-party way that focuses on outcomes and consensus on the best way forward.

In that sense, he said, structures such as a Public Accounts Committees [PACs] made up of cross-party MPs would play a central role.

Mr Clinton said he did not understand why the GSLP/Liberals were so adamantly opposed to the establishment of a PAC.

“At the end of the day, as parliamentarians, we should all want the same thing, which is the best use of public money,” he said.

“Mistakes happen. No government is immune from mistakes.”

“But some of them are not even political mistakes, they are just genuine mistakes.”

“And it is one of the critical features of survival and evolution is that we learn from mistakes and we evolve.”

“But if we’re not prepared to accept that mistakes happen and we’re not prepared to learn from mistakes, we will never move on and we’re then doomed to repeat mistakes.”

And he did not accept the Government’s position that it was ministers who should be held accountable for spending decisions, not civil servants.

Mr Clinton cited as an example the healthcare budget and said Health Minister Gemma Arias Vasquez “cannot possibly know what goes on in every corner of the hospital”.

He said it was for civil servants to take operational decisions to implement policies set by ministers.

“It might be very noble [as a minister] to take personal responsibility for everything, but ultimately there are people being paid to do a job and they should be held accountable [because] that is their job.”