Welcome to Steve’s presentation

Welcome to Steve’s presentation CSR MeetUp Group London Steve Mullins Steve.mullins@virgin.net 07974 918 229 CSR Meetup, Central London

Aims of the presentation To consider the interplay between commerce, government and society – to join the dots To discuss the need for governmental responsibility in the light of the last few years CSR Meetup, Central London

Please bear with me in that the topic is vast, so in order to join the dots and paint some sort of picture please accept: Sweeping generalities Glossings over Omissions CSR Meetup, Central London

Firstly, the interplay of various responsibilities: Corporate Government Society itself CSR Meetup, Central London

Corporate Social ResponsibilityA simplified view Government Corporation tax Income tax License Infrastructure to Hospitals Operate Schools Provides income & security Business Society Provides labour and talent CSR Meetup, Central London

The corporate cares for: • It’s workforce • Society • The environment [where society lives] • Customers • Suppliers • Etc. But, there’s more: Let’s consider government’s influence CSR Meetup, Central London

Governmental ResponsibilityA simplified view Government Corporation taxIncome tax License Infrastructure to Hospitals Operate Schools Provides income & security Business Society Provides labour and talent CSR Meetup, Central London

Government provides commerce with: • A framework within which to operate • Means to enforce agreements • Overseas staging posts • Support for society to contribute • ????? • Ideas please But, there’s more: Let’s consider government and society CSR Meetup, Central London

Governmental ResponsibilityA simplified view Government Corporation tax Income tax License Security [police] to Hospitals Operate Schools Provides income & security Business Society Provides labour and talent CSR Meetup, Central London

Government provides society with: • The means to stay secure • The means to stay healthy & productive • A system of [appropriate?] education • Infrastructure • Communal spaces [e.g. Libraries] • Environmental management But, there’s more: Doesn’t society have a responsibility to commerce and government? CSR Meetup, Central London

Society’s responsibilities – how often do we overlook these? With Commerce – to develop talent and diligence to contribute to productivity With Government – to provide the right amount of tax and not sponge off the state With Itself – to provide self-regulation and control in line with its own cultural ethics CSR Meetup, Central London

The Responsibility FrameworkA simplified view Government Corporation tax Income tax License Security [police] to Hospitals Operate Schools Provides income & security Business Society Provides labour and talent CSR Meetup, Central London

Secondly, let’s consider how well government succeeds in its responsibilities to the people it is charged with caring for Or: The need for governmental responsibility in the light of the last few years CSR Meetup, Central London

Consider the position of government Question: What is the purpose of government? And it is not ‘to pass laws’ – the laws are a means to achieve the purpose. I see the purpose of government as: To defend the realm To improve the lot of the citizens within the realm CSR Meetup, Central London

I’m going to sideline the defence of the realm for tonight and concentrate on improving the lot of the citizens within the realm. For anyone particularly interested in defence may I suggest: On the Psychology of Military Incompetence: Norman Dixon ISBN 978-0-712-65889-8 Captives: Linda Colley ISBN 978-0-7126-6528-5 Lying in State: Tim Slessor ISBN 1-84513-030-8 CSR Meetup, Central London

A digression into wealth – which is the thing that commerce, government and society all chase to improve their lot CSR Meetup, Central London

For the purpose of tonight, please accept that:Tangible wealth is the finance delivered by adding real value e.g. Bending metal into a motor car, creating a book or providing specialist support [also called ‘productive money’]Intangible wealth is an imaginary increase in a notional value such as stocks and shares, or property – nothing tangible added [also called ‘unproductive money’]See also: Theology of MoneyPhilip Goodchild ISBN 978-0-334-04142-9 CSR Meetup, Central London

Wealth One of the purposes of government is to improve the lot of its citizens – usually through the deployment of tangible wealth e.g. schools, hospitals, infrastructure Question: Where does tangible [productive] wealth come from? Some places it doesn’t come from: - Investing in property - Selling hamburgers to one another - Creating notional value in stocks and shares CSR Meetup, Central London

Wealth One of the purposes of government is to improve the lot of its citizens – usually through the deployment of tangible wealth e.g. schools, hospitals, infrastructure Question: Where does tangible [productive] wealth come from? Some places it doesn’t come from: - Investing in property - Selling insurance to one another - Creating notional value in stocks and shares CSR Meetup, Central London

And where has the government been directing its energies? CSR Meetup, Central London

And where has the government been directing its energies? To propping up: • Property speculators • Insurancecompanies and • The banks, None of which add any tangible wealth CSR Meetup, Central London

So how responsible has government been? Regulations that demand the banks strengthen their balance sheets – how are they doing this? – by investing in property[intangible value - unproductive] and disadvantaging industry [which can create tangible value - productive] whilst at the same time denying those wanting somewhere to live [ - but isn’t property one of the ways in which MPs have made themselves increasingly rich?] CSR Meetup, Central London

So how responsible has government been? Weak regulation of the insurance sector - How long does it take for a claim to be settled? - Why are there so many rich names in Lloyds? - Conflicts of interest for wealthy politicians? - And what about the badly regulated mis-selling of insurance? CSR Meetup, Central London

So how responsible has government been? Propping up loss-making banks though ‘quantitative easing’ for example; if there are 30m households in the UK, every £30bn of QE puts £1,000 on every household’s overdraft and no option to refuse [the front bench are all millionaires so £1,000 doesn’t mean much to them] as they take productive money from you and me to support the unproductive financial sector debt CSR Meetup, Central London

Let’s consider how well government succeeds in its responsibilities to the commerce it is charged with supporting And, it is commerce which pays [through various strands of taxation] for everything the government delivers CSR Meetup, Central London

Exploring responsibility to commerce: Health & Safety – need I say more CSR Meetup, Central London

Exploring responsibility to commerce: Human rights – given specialist knowledge and understanding it is possible to fire an underperforming employee; without specialist knowledge [and what manager today has the time to acquire that knowledge] it can take three months of tribunals, full pay, disruption and management time – hardly surprising the apprentice scheme isn’t working CSR Meetup, Central London

Exploring responsibility to commerce: “...the desperate state of our education system. Tony Blair promised ‘Education, education, education’. We got a scholastic generation who are not equipped for the world of work. Employers complain that after A level studies, many school leavers have basic problems with literacy and numeracy and seem to think the world owes them a living” Fixing Britain by Digby Jones ISBN 978-0-470-97763-7 CSR Meetup, Central London

Let’s consider how well government succeeds in its responsibilities to the society it is charged with supporting CSR Meetup, Central London

Exploring responsibility to society: NHS – I’m led to believe that it costs twice as much today to run the NHS as it did in 2004, [about £50bn] and without things being much better; just more beans counted. However I defy anyone to go direct to comparative trends, historic costs or even just a figure – such is the obfuscation and political desire of Whitehall to avoid any criticism CSR Meetup, Central London

Exploring responsibility to society: Personal security, The UK has the worst re-offending rate in the whole of Europe; some 95% will go back in again; in Denmark the number is 45%, the US 36% The cost to society is about £250,000 a time; multiply this by 86,000 and 0.14% of the population costs a staggering £21bn CSR Meetup, Central London

Exploring responsibility to society: “But over the past couple of decades the country has, through a political quest for popularity and misguided theory, created a benefit culture which feeds on itself, stifles any aspirations of work or development of self-worth and which will take a generation to reverse, such is its systemic inertia” [My italics and emboldening] Another quote from Fixing Britain by Digby Jones ISBN 978-0-470-97763-7 CSR Meetup, Central London

Exploring responsibility to society: Public sector employment – ostensibly supporting society; government over the last 15 years has, in my opinion, been the greatest criminal for over half a century – in their scramble to win elections they have provided ‘no-jobs’ promising over a million people security; and having taken on commitments, those same people are now being laid off – and we still have Ed Balls demanding increased employment – from where? – paid how? – no doubt from taxation! A Ponzi scheme if ever. CSR Meetup, Central London

To summarise CSR Meetup, Central London

Governmental responsibility to the nation: In summary: Legislating for investment in property – unproductive money Weak regulation of insurance [etc.] – unproductive money Propping up loss making banks – unproductive money Disadvantaging commerce & the people And this is just a sample! CSR Meetup, Central London

Governmental commercial responsibility: In summary: Health & Safety – great excuse for strikes Human Rights – what about employers’ rights Education – inappropriate And this is just a sample! Just a thought: If government isn’t supporting commerce, how can commerce properly support society and properly implement the CSR it is charged to manage – as overseen by government!? CSR Meetup, Central London

Governmental social responsibility: In summary: The NHS – over bureaucratised [and secretive] Re-offending – worst in Europe Benefit culture – aspirations stifled Public sector employment – commitments by employees Education – unsuitable for the world of work And this is just a sample! CSR Meetup, Central London

In conclusion:I am firmly of the opinion that government needs a programme of social responsibility far more than commerce does. CSR Meetup, Central London

Thank you for your time and attention CSR Meetup, Central London

Some numbers next for those who are interested- Not part of the original presentation CSR Meetup, Central London

Some numbers (1): In 2003 – from Office of National Statistics, published in 2005 (figures rounded) Central Government employed about 2,000,000 people Local Government employed about 2,000,000 people Public Corporations (e.g. Royal Mail, BNF etc.) employed about 400,000 people In all, about 4,500,000 people CSR Meetup, Central London

Some numbers (2): In Q1 2011 – from the Office of National Statistics (figures rounded) Central Government employed about 2,800,000 (up 800,000) people Local Government employed about 2,800,000 (up 800,000) people Public Corporations employed about 500,000 (up 100,000) people In all, about 6,000,000 people CSR Meetup, Central London

Some numbers (3): What has happened in just a few years that has needed a 30% increase in staff numbers with no improvement to service? Many would argue that the service has declined - But employment has increased CSR Meetup, Central London

Some numbers (4): The cost of an additional 1,500,000 people: With some rounding: Each public sector employee costs the taxpayer about £42,500 [income, NI, pension & office] The tax take for £35,000 of income is about £5,500 per annum A year’s unemployment money is about £10,000 per claimant, including administration CSR Meetup, Central London

Some numbers (5): The cost of an additional 1,500,000 people: Each post that can be cut saves £42,500 but loses tax of about £5,500 per person and costs £10,000 in unemployment; A net saving of (£42,500 – £5,500 – £10,000) i.e.£27,000 per post. Multiply that by 1,500,000, And get an annual saving of c.£40bn – roughly the interest on our sovereign debt CSR Meetup, Central London

Putting some numbers into perspective (1): Just the repayment of interest: £40bn repaid over 52 weeks is approximately £770,000,000 per week Or a little over £100,000,000 per day So when the government grandly announces savings of £100,000,000 by: Closing libraries that disadvantage thousands of people or Reducing policing that makes life a lot less safe for thousands of people All that has been achieved is one day’s breathing spaceon just the interest repayment [never mind the capital] CSR Meetup, Central London

Welcome to Steve’s presentation