As I have moved through different roles in my career, I have probably confirmed myself as a 100% public servant,’ ACCA president Anthony Harbinson reflects. It is an observation that can be made with satisfaction on a number of levels, and a quick look through the Northern Ireland native’s CV confirms this commitment has not come at the expense of an ambitious career trajectory.
Qualifying as ACCA in 1988, Harbinson cut his teeth in a number of finance roles before being selected to lead the creation of the Public Prosecution Services for Northern Ireland in 2001. Leadership credentials established, he would go on to become Northern Ireland Department of Justice’s director in 2010. Taking on his latest role, director of safer communities, three years later, his responsibilities now put him at the heart of the region’s often contentious policing and community safety matters. In another era, the word ‘mandarin’ might have suggested itself, but in these days of austerity and, against the backdrop of a sometimes fraught political scene, it is clearly a position that favours those who relish challenge above those who savour status.
As director, Harbinson is ‘effectively responsible for all aspects of strategic policy, resourcing and the legislative framework the police in Northern Ireland operate in’. This remit includes not only policing bodies such as the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Northern Ireland Policing Board, but also the Department of Justice’s work to make communities safer, tackle organised crime and modernise Northern Ireland’s forensic science services.
While he has long moved beyond a purely financial remit, finance remains central to his concerns and he is responsible for a policing budget of over £700m (out of a total Department of Justice budget of £1.2bn), as well as his own directorate’s operating budget of £38m. Indeed, coming into the position two years ago, Harbinson found it was his background in accounts that most concentrated the minds of his new colleagues.
‘There was a lot of concern because it was assumed I would be coming in as an “accountant”, cutting everything around me and enforcing a financial regime regardless of the consequences. Since then, I’m pleased that I’ve impressed the people I work with; firstly, by showing that I understand their businesses and, secondly, by working with them to help them to transform those businesses,’ Harbinson says. He adds this has involved a subtle re-education process around the profession. ‘I always stress that accountants aren’t bean counters any more. It’s gone beyond that; we are financial strategic partners. In many ways, this role has given me a chance to prove that.’
Delivering public services on reduced resources has been a common refrain around the world since at least the beginning of the decade. In Northern Ireland’s case that challenge has far from peaked: ‘We entered the downturn later than others and we will probably come out of it later than others,’ Harbinson comments.
This year sees the implementation of a round of difficult spending cuts that reflect the reduced funding available to the region from central government. It is a process that will require rigour, clarity and some collegiality, he says. ‘The bodies I’m responsible for are taking cuts of between 8% and 10%, while my core department is taking a cut of 22%, so we are showing that this really is shared pain. The people I work for realise that when I make these decisions, I am doing so openly and honestly, and with a view to protecting the front-line services, so it’s not a case of something being “done unto them”.’
Bringing people on a shared, if difficult, journey may have its rewards, but it is surely frustrating to play a succession of senior roles with the mantra of cost cutting the foremost consideration? ‘Everyone finds it difficult to constantly live within austerity,’ he reflects. ‘I think that’s the same whether you are in Belfast, Dublin or Athens. We started off a few years ago with a view that we were looking for more for less from the public sector, then we went for the idea that we would look for the same for less, and now I think we have accepted that sometimes we can only do less with less. I understand I have to make cuts and prioritise where we make them. I’ve described myself as a problem solver in the past and, in the current environment, I continue to be that. The more difficult the problems get, the more motivated I am to resolve them.’
Northern Ireland’s difficult political past has certainly challenged problem solvers over the years and the role of director of safer communities puts Harbinson at the centre of some important legacy issues. ‘In Northern Ireland, we sometimes forget how far we have moved on and the outside world often sees it better than we can,’ he reflects, pointing to the recent progress made in the removal of peace walls, physical barriers created to divide the two communities in the height of the Troubles, as a source of particular pride. ‘We had 59 of these structures when I started out and we are now down to 52. We have set ourselves the target of eradicating them all by 2023. My staff work with residents on both sides to reassure them, and we take a staged process – firstly, making them less military looking, then turning them into something more neutral and less invasive and, finally, removing them altogether.’
Derogation hope
As the Northern Ireland economy battles recession, a great deal of hope and expectation has been vested in the province’s newly acquired ability to set its own corporation tax rate, following a derogation given by the UK government in late 2014. The sting in the tail is a cut in funding from central government, which, by EU law, must match the amount lost through the lower tax rate. While at the coalface of these cuts, Harbinson concurs with those who see the development as a positive one, arguing that it is one of a number of factors that can collectively contribute to the region’s economic resurgence.
‘Northern Ireland had its best ever year in 2014 in terms of jobs created and inward investment. That builds on our very strong stream of talented graduates, as well as the lower cost of doing business compared to other parts of Britain and Ireland. I would share the optimism that cutting the corporation tax rate will help increase investment in the region, as well as help indigenous companies grow.’
On the ratcheting up of rivalry between the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland as a result of the lower tax, his view is ‘there should be more than enough investment wins to keep everyone happy. The two sides can be complementary to each other as well as competitors and a lot of the trade promotional activity is already done on an all-island basis.’
While he has left behind accountancy in his professional life, Harbinson makes no secret of the fact that his commitment to, indeed passion for, ACCA has only grown over the years. Having previously served as ACCA Ireland president, his decision to run for Council was, he says, a natural reflection of that growing enthusiasm. The appeal of the organisation, he says, is quite simply its ability to change lives. ‘When you go to a place like Zambia and you meet an ACCA member who is a partner in a large accountancy firm, and you hear about the village he grew up in, which had no electricity or running water, how his community saved up for him to study and how he is now helping that community by putting in wells, sanitation and electricity, then you see ACCA is not so much a career, but a life-changing vocation. That is what inspires me to stay involved.’
In his time as president, Harbinson has made ethics a key theme and he believes it is an area ACCA has much to contribute to globally. ‘Ethics is very strong element of the qualification and the concept is enshrined in what we call the three Es: exams, experience and ethics, which are all at the core of ACCA membership.’
The role of president provides a strong platform to communicate how that commitment translates into a tangible public good. He gives the example of developing countries in possession of natural resources. ‘You will find exploration and development companies will put in their A+ teams to negotiate with those governments. I very much believe these countries need A+ teams to manage their interests, and having ACCA members at the heart of the negotiations would be key to that.’
In his own daily work, he also gains clear insight in what happens when ethical principles are flouted. ‘Nothing is more depressing to me than seeing a criminal enterprise flourish because a professional, whether an accountant, a lawyer or a banker, helped make it happen. The average criminal on the street doesn’t know how to launder money; they need people with financial skills to do that. If it’s a qualified accountant who is playing that role, then to me it’s a particularly horrendous situation.’
On tax avoidance, Harbinson reflects that while there is a big difference between ethical avoidance and deliberate evasion, ‘there remains the question as to whether, even if a company has done nothing illegal, its behaviour is morally right. My personal view is that we need simpler, cleaner and easier forms of taxation that remove ambiguity from the system.’
ACCA’s nine-year rule, which sets the limit on the amount of time an individual may sit on the Council, means Harbinson may serve just one more year after his time as president. He sees the rule as an important one for getting ‘a flow through of new people and ideas’, but is confident, too, that he has more to contribute to the organisation he is so passionate about. ‘There is a lot going on and ACCA is coming increasingly to the fore in conversations about sustaining and protecting the world’s limited resources. These are all issues close to a public servant’s heart. ACCA is a dynamic organisation with a global strategy to 2020, and I want to be part of delivering that as much as I can.’
