In Accounting for a Better World: An ACCA Policy Prospectus for Scotland, ACCA sets out recommendations which will help Scotland strengthen its economy, public finances, skills system and climate ambitions. Key recommendations include:

• Create a thriving economy through better engagement with key advisers in the professional business services sector, maximising the sector’s potential and improving access to affordable finance for SMEs
• Improve productivity and transparency in public finance through better tax legislation and scrutiny, multi-year funding, and ensuring better tools to support finance professionals to deliver public sector efficiency
• Expand and fund successful apprenticeships, while improving employer voice at national and regional level
• Develop a clearer routemap of actions to support businesses, especially SMEs, to meet Scotland’s climate ambitions.

For more information, see Accounting for a better world: An ACCA policy prospectus for Scotland.

In Accounting for a better world: An ACCA policy prospectus for Wales, ACCA Cymru/Wales is calling on all political parties to commit to four priorities that will underpin Wales’s future prosperity, namely:

• Build a world-class skills and careers system by expanding higher-level apprenticeships, accelerating short-course provision and embedding employer voice across regional and national skills planning, particularly for in-demand competencies like digital and green skills
• Create the conditions for sustainable business growth through investment in infrastructure and connectivity, business support and stronger engagement between government and key sectors
• Strengthen public finance, productivity and tax certainty with greater funding certainty through multi-year budgets, a simpler tax environment and reform of the business rates system
• Enable a practical and just transition to net zero by providing targeted support for small businesses and strengthening climate reporting across public bodies.

The prospectus also exemplifies how finance professionals can support these asks, and work with policymakers to drive change within businesses and organisations of all sizes.

For more information, see Accounting for a better world: An ACCA policy prospectus for Wales