Belfast briefing: Job creation key to Northern Ireland elections

In three days’ time people in Northern Ireland will get a rare chance to make a decision that could directly affect their economic future.

That means this Thursday, May 5th, could be a crucial day for anyone with a job in the North or for any of the estimated 56,000 people who are currently unemployed.

But it could also be fundamental for people who are no longer part of the workforce and for the next generation of workers who are now in the education system.

Because come Thursday, everyone of voting age will get an opportunity to influence what the local economy will look like by 2021 – and in turn their own individual prosperity.

It has been five years since anyone – from small business owners to ambitious entrepreneurs and struggling manufacturers – have had the chance to provide feedback on what kind of job they think local politicians have been doing when it comes to the North’s economy.

The Assembly elections will provide just the opening for everyone with a material stake in the North to hire or fire the people responsible for taking key local economic decisions on their behalf since 2011.

The elections are, of course, not just all about the economy. Health, education and Brexit are also among the top priorities people are talking about this time around.

It’s the economy, stupid

But the fact that the largest players among the political parties have all chosen to put the economy at the heart of their manifestos in 2016 is a reflection on where Northern Ireland is today compared to where it was when the Good Friday agreement was signed 18 years ago.

It shows what is really important to an electorate with mortgages and bills to pay.

A total of 276 local politicians will compete for 108 seats in 18 constituencies on Thursday, and it is a safe bet that for every door they knock on up to then, a promise about jobs will swiftly follow.

Because jobs – from the several thousand job losses in the pipeline locally, to the creation of new jobs and the issue of job security – is a key theme running through this year’s elections.

In their respective 2016 manifestos, the two largest vote winners from the last Assembly elections – the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) and Sinn Féin – have made brash pledges to create 50,000 new jobs in the North.

The DUP intends to achieve this target by, among other things, introducing an “upscaling” plan to help more companies “make the step change to become larger employers”, coupled with a rural jobs focus and investment in skills.

Sinn Féin, on the other hand, intends to “address sub-regional inequalities in investment and job creation” and ensure universities are “funded” to deliver the skills “demanded by the economy”.

Knowledge is power

The third largest vote winner in the last elections, the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP), is also keen to help create jobs but it believes that one of the best ways this can be achieved is by growing the knowledge economy in Northern Ireland.

The UUP is the only party to have published a policy document specifically on the knowledge economy and it has done this because it believes this is the sector that affords the best opportunity to “allow young people to realise their tremendous potential while remaining in Northern Ireland”.

“It will attract new jobs and investment to these shores. And it offers the best chance to move from economic reliance, to becoming a valued net contributor to the UK economy,” the UUP manifesto states.

Back in 2011 the SDLP secured 14 seats, making it the fourth largest party in the last Assembly – this time around it is also promoting a focus on job creation.

But in its manifesto it stresses that it wants to help create the “most productive employment that contributes to economic growth”.

As a result the SDLP believes that Northern Ireland needs to support job creation in the “highest value-added sectors”.

“We need to raise skill levels to attract the more lucrative FDI investments in the information and communications technology sector and other professional services. Investments in these sectors create well paid employment for software engineers, lawyers, creative design professionals as well as administrative staff,” the party states.

As part of this focus it also wants to establish Northern Ireland’s first digital technology and coding academy”.

It is no surprise that in their respective 2016 manifestos the DUP, Sinn Féin, UUP and the SDLP all reiterate their support for the devolution of corporation tax powers to the North in 2018 – given the potential investment, and thus additional jobs, this could generate.

Taxing issues

Only the DUP draws attention to the possibility that it might support a rate lower than the proposed 12.5 per cent.

According to the party’s manifesto: “The shift at a UK level to lower UK corporation tax means the DUP is open to looking at lowering the rate to 10 per cent.”

The DUP, UUP and SDLP also believe tourism could be a greater economic driver and job creation vehicle than it currently is in the North.

The DUP says it is “committed to driving up tourist spend in Northern Ireland to £1 billion every year by 2020, while the UUP calls for the North’s hospitality sector “to be allowed to compete on a level playing field with the Irish Republic” particularly when it comes to taxes.

The SDLP also sets out its proposal that VAT in the tourism and hospitality sectors in the North should be reduced to 5 per cent.

“Focused investment in tourism will generate 6,000 new jobs by 2021, ” the party says – just in time for the next Northern Ireland Assembly elections.