Bruce Cartwright CA

Commenting on the announced plans, Bruce Cartwright CA, CEO of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS), said: “A renewed emphasis on unlocking growth and investment is essential, and it was encouraging to hear the Chancellor express a commitment to improving regulation.

“But economic growth can’t come at the expense of good governance, transparency, or public trust.

“If the UK is serious about becoming a destination for long-term, responsible capital, it must urgently act on three fronts: deliver growth that genuinely attracts sustainable investment, safeguard the environment in its broadest sense, and strengthen protection of consumers and the wider public interest.”

Mr Cartwright continued: “We’ve long called for a smarter, more proportionate regulatory approach. Reform must also mean resilience, as a strong economy demands strong governance.

“Regulation should not be seen as a barrier to growth, but as the framework that supports it by providing the public and investors with greater confidence that the UK is a safe place to do business.

“With that in mind, some of the Chancellor’s language concerns us. Describing regulation as the ‘boot on the neck’ of businesses or of ‘choking off’ enterprise and innovation risks undermining the very trust and stability that sustainable growth depends on.”

He concluded: “The Chancellor’s decision to not proceed with a UK Green Taxonomy is also disappointing. We hope this rollback is not a sign of a similar watering down on the manifesto commitment to mandate transition planning for certain entities.

“However, we welcome the UK government’s ambition to deliver a world-leading sustainable finance framework to support the UK’s position as the sustainable finance capital of the world. We hope that this leads to a focus of resources on other policies which will support these objectives.”