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We all live in Rushen and we all want it to be safe and prosperous; we want to see our local businesses flourish and our young people have the best life opportunities. We want to see traditional family values and the best care for our elderly. To have all this: OUR ECONOMY HAS TO BE STRONG, IT
HAS TO I feel my professional background and experience both locally and internationally can contribute to achieving this aim. As an accountant I will work towards increasing our income and controlling Government spending. A vote for me is a vote for jobs, homes and the future. If I don’t manage to call on you, please accept my apologies but you can contact me anytime on: home 832927 office 627434
THE ISLAND'S ECONOMY We depend for our prosperity on the earnings of the many companies based here in the Island that trade around the world. Our shipping and fund managers, our banks, our insurance companies, our manufacturers, our service providers and internet businesses are here because the Island is the best place for them to be. We must keep it that way. There is a world recession looming and we cannot expect it to pass us by. We are already seeing a rapid decline in company registrations - a prime indicator for the finance sector. In addition we are under pressure from the OECD and the G7 FATF, there are the plans for an EU savings tax, perhaps a new tax treaty with the UK and the question of exchange of information. Within 5 years the UK may go for the Euro. I don’t claim to know all the answers,
but at least I understand the Government spending is the other side of the economic equation. Sound finances require strict budgeting and we must make sure that we buy what is suitable for our Island. We do not need grandiose schemes just for the sake of it. No well run business ever prospered by slowing down I am not in favour of slowing down our present healthy economic growth. We must however strive to manage it efficiently and use any surpluses to expand the range of our goods and services that we sell abroad. Great opportunities exist for us in the creation of internet businesses, but we need to negotiate with the UK and Europe to ensure that we are operating on a fair competition basis. ISSUES AND POLICIES BELOW YOU WILL FIND MY THOUGHTS ON:
LOCAL AND NATIONAL ISSUES I am a firm supporter of the NHS and I believe treatment should be free at the point of delivery. It seems wrong that an elderly person should see their life savings being used up on health care for which they have already paid their taxes. I will call for FREE NURSING CARE FOR THE ELDERLY whether or not they are in Government run or private nursing homes. There will be a cost to this but it is one we should afford. I cannot understand why we have to wait so long for hospital appointments and treatment. When I came to the Island there was no delay in being seen and treated. I shall press for an ENQUIRY INTO WAITING LISTS. The new facility for Southlands should be a great benefit but there remains the PROBLEM OF STAFFING. This is not confined to the South, it applies throughout the Island. We all know the Island is a wonderful place to live, so why is it so difficult to recruit teachers, doctors, nurses and others vital to our public services? Clearly the lack of housing plays a part but it’s deeper than that. I would like to see a study into the reasons so that we know the problems we need to address. I would like to see the new facility, together with the refurbished Southlands, developed into a MEDICAL CENTRE for the South. There are many people on disability benefit who are able to cope with some types of work, especially now that we have e-mails and the internet, but the rules stop them. I would like to see EARNINGS LIMITS FOR DISABLED PEOPLE INCREASED. This will help them to fulfil themselves and it may take some pressure off the job vacancies. Part of the housing problem arises from people moving to the Island to fill job vacancies. We need to encourage those already here, but not working, to work, so I would promote flexible-time working, job share and outsourcing. I would also propose that where people pay registered child minders or nurseries so that they can go to work, those CHILD CARE COSTS SHOULD BE TAX DEDUCTIBLE. After all, the recipients will be paying tax so the effect is neutral. I applaud the new police station but why is the number of officers both on patrol and investigating incidents so low? I will press for MORE POLICE OFFICERS TO BE BASED IN THE SOUTH and for the station to be open 24 hours a day. We need to fit PUBLIC TRANSPORT around the needs of the traveler. We must recognise that it cannot replace the car but it can be a better choice for some journeys or parts of journeys. It needs planning and re-designing. I support the re-furbishing of the STEAM RAILWAY, but I am not happy about the Iris pipes and the gas supply going under the track. Apart from safety issues, I think it will harm tourism if it is shut down for two years. In the future, repairs and maintenance will further disrupt the service. A COMMUTER LINE is a good idea. I am strongly in FAVOUR OF THE MARINA in Port St Mary. It is a diversification from the finance sector and a development for tourism. There are 10,000 yachts within a day’s sail of Port St Mary - that’s potentially more than 40,000 visitors - but at present many people will not come to the Island because of the lack of safe berths. Port St Mary will be an ideal place to visit and also to include in the many races that are run around the Irish Sea. It will bring much needed new business to the village and I will press for the tax incentive scheme to be extended beyond its initial three year life. Our air links are the arteries of our business traffic and tourism. Airlines are having a difficult time at the moment but we should look to the longer term to be sure that we retain our range of services, especially our ACCESS TO HEATHROW. TAXATION I support the new tax strategy, the overhaul of the system is to be welcomed. Such changes as the move to current year basis of assessment and the wider use of IT will make it more comprehensible and accessible to tax payers. There are areas that I think should be re-visited (the non-refundable tax credit for example) and transitional arrangements need to be studied carefully. The introduction of a corporate tax -at present companies pay income tax -sounds logical but it will have difficulties to overcome, not least that tax will be due 9 months after the accounting year end. This will make some companies pay their tax a year earlier than at present, which will not be popular. Coming into line with the OECD’s rules by abolishing exempt companies will hurt the Corporate Service industry, for so long the mainstay of the finance sector. The resulting zero tax rates will increase the already apparent anomalies between personal and corporate tax. Residence will also become a more significant issue. I have always championed HIGH PERSONAL ALLOWANCES and tax deductions as ways to help the lower earners. This is a trend I will continue to promote. GOVERNANCE OF THE ISLAND It seems quite wrong that if you live in Rushen you have 3 representatives in the Keys and yet if you live in Peel you only have one. In this general election 4 members in 3 sheadings are being returned unopposed. The voters there will not even get to vote. This cannot be in the interests of democracy. I think the situation in Rushen should be a blue print for the rest of the Island. I would support moves towards ELECTORAL REFORM whereby there would be 8 constituencies each with 3 members. Such a system would mean there would always be elections and give a wider choice of candidates to the electorate. LOCAL COMMISSIONERS should have clearly defined areas of responsibility and central Government should only have the power to veto projects on the basis of cost or in the "interests of the Island". I do not see any need to alter the present structure of the COUNCIL OF MINISTERS, but I am open to persuasion if there are good reasons for change. HOUSING I do think that we should have an ISLAND WIDE HOUSING POLICY, not just a land for development plan, but a thought out proposal for what we need. The housing "crisis" is the most pressing social problem of the moment. Young people feel they cannot afford to get on to the housing ladder and so are being left behind. Prices will continue to rise as long as demand exceeds supply and to correct it we need to reduce the one and increase the other. I do think the problem is largely caused by timing. We should remember that we have had a 50% INCREASE IN POPULATION since I have been here. Many of those wanting homes are in fact our own young ones coming back and working here. Filling job vacancies from within the Island will reduce demand from new residents. If we can fill 100 vacancies from resources already here, that’s 100 housing units we do not need to find. On the supply side, increasing the available housing stock is an equally necessary move. Most people want to live near where they work so we should be looking towards Douglas for major developments. Instead of large sprawling estates we should be exploring ideas like URBAN VILLAGES and in-fill sites. This should be so in the South too. We need small manageable developments within the current bounds of our towns and villages. One of the problems is that developers will build the most profitable houses and those will not be the cheapest. Governments have a very poor record of house building. I propose we create HOUSING ASSOCIATIONS on a similar model to those in the UK. They are charitable trusts that provide houses for rent, lease purchase and partial equity purchase. They combine the benefits of private developments with the social ideals of government EXTERNAL AFFAIRS Our economy is based primarily on financial services and they depend absolutely on our reputation abroad. Since September 11th Washington has gone on the offensive against "tax havens" as nests of criminal funding. WE ARE NOT A TAX HAVEN but the world still thinks we are. Unless we are acceptable to the politicians in Washington, Brussels and Westminster our businesses are going to face increasing discrimination. We must strengthen our political links with Europe and elsewhere. The UK will continue to represent us abroad but we should have international policies of our own. I believe that GOOD FOREIGN RELATIONS is a prime responsibility of any Government -and yet we do not even have a dedicated political office. These issues are critical to our economy and our very existence as a financial centre. WE SHOULD HAVE A DEPARTMENT OF EXTERNAL AFFAIRS. My name is Andrew Steven Roy, I am 54 years of age; my wife Gill and I have lived in Colby since 1975. My mother lived in Port Erin prior that. Our children went to Arbory School before going on to secondary education. Stefan is now a lawyer, married and living in central London. Amy is a doctor at the Royal Free Hospital, London and she is getting married in December. I was born and brought up in England. I qualified as a chartered accountant with one of the international firms in Birmingham before I came to the Island. I set up my own practice in 1977, then we formed Bennett Roy & Co in 1979. I have been Chairman of the Manx Foundation for the Physically Disabled and I am also a past Chairman of the Island’s Society of Chartered Accountants. I have been an international board director of a world wide association of business professionals. My main leisure pursuit is sailing. I do have a vision for the Isle of Man and for Rushen. I want to see a modern economy respected around the world supporting social services that are second to none. To live in the Isle of Man is to be one of the most fortunate people in the world, and for me, Rushen is the best part of the Island. Let’s make sure it stays that way!
Published by Andrew Roy Printed via the IOM Elections Website. www.iomelections.com REPRESENTATION OF THE PEOPLE ACT 1995
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I
am standing as a candidate because I am concerned about the future
of our economy.