Rt.Hon. Steve Barclay MP
Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and Minister for the Cabinet Office
Cabinet Office
70 Whitehall
London
SW1A 2AS
16 May 2022
Dear Minister,
RE: Cost of Living
I am writing to you as Secretary General at the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants to draw your attention to CIMA policy proposals that could help address the cost-of-living pressures now facing UK consumers and businesses. We recognise that inflation is already at a multi-decade high and is set to remain higher for longer.
We welcome the creation of a new ‘Efficiency and Value for Money Committee’, which will aim to ensure that the 5% efficiency target set at the 2021 Spending Review is met across Whitehall. We believe that through the more efficient use of state assets and the deployment of more technology within Government significant savings are possible. The drive to improve public sector efficiency should be a continual process.
We believe that supply side reforms are urgently needed to mitigate against UK inflation. This is especially important as we believe that supply chain pressures mean that more resilience is needed in the system to accommodate shocks. The UK must ensure that as we leave the covid crisis behind we build a resilient UK economy going forward.