‘No.10 needs people who can add up’

BRITAIN’S top accountancy body is warning of a shortage of financial skills in Whitehall because politicians don’t take the need for them seriously.

Ross Campbell, a director at the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England & Wales, said finance experts were often only brought in after decisions were taken.

‘It is shutting the stable door after the horse has bolted,’ he said, with policies decided before proper analysis of cost.

Campbell, himself a former accountant at the Ministry of Defence and Treasury, added: ‘The issue is not the number of accountants, it’s the posts they hold.

‘In business, it would be unthinkable for a finance director not to be a qualified accountant.’