Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg yesterday (7 January) spoke of the Coalition Government’s renewed determination to deliver a ‘stronger economy in a fairer society to ensure that everyone can get on in life’.
The statement came during a press conference to announce the publication of a Mid-Term Review on the Coalition Government’s progress as it reaches the two and a half year mark in its five-year term.
The Review outlines the Coalition’s progress under four main targets – fixing the economy, improving public services, building a better society and standing tall in the world – with the Coalition partners looking to reiterate the goal they set for themselves when taking office in 2010: ‘to reach across party lines to act in the national interest’.
On perhaps the most pressing topic – the economy – the Review points to a number of major Coalition ‘wins’ since taking office, including a reduction in the deficit by a quarter in just two years; the creation of the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) to provide independent analysis of the UK’s public finances; and supporting central government departments to save a total of £12 billion through the work of the Cabinet Office Efficiency and Reform Group.
The Review also renews the Coalition’s targets for the remainder of the current term through continuing to pursue the deficit reduction plan while protecting vulnerable groups and key long-term investments; and allowing the Efficiency and Reform Group to support Whitehall departments in delivering £20 billion of savings per year by 2014/15 by bearing down on fraud and error, increasing debt recovery to the Exchequer and continuing the evolution towards government as a single customer when engaging with suppliers.
Speaking on the time taken to get the economy back on track, Mr Clegg again emphasised that the damage done by the 2007 crash was worse than expected, but stressed that ‘we are confident that we are doing the right things to tackle the black hole left by the previous government’.
The Review also focuses on further support for businesses, and small firms in particular. Among the range of measures promised to boost support for businesses are: reducing the Small Companies Tax Rate to 20%; providing a further extension of Small Business Rate Relief from April 2013 to give targeted support and cash flow benefits; providing a significant temporary increase in the Annual Investment Allowance, from £25,000 to £250,000 for two years; and promoting Supply Chain Finance to provide easier credit for SMEs. The Review also reaffirms the Coalition’s flagship SME goal of ensuring that 25% of public sector spend lies with SMEs by 2015.
Another main announcement to further support SMEs was the so-called Business Bank, which has recently come under some criticism for the lack of concrete facts surrounding its 
implementation or scope.
While the Review seeks to re-establish faith in the work of the Coalition Government and highlight its achievements over the past half-term, there was also a clear admission of the unpopularity of some of the steps taken to get the economy moving again.
“Whether it is reducing the deficit, rebalancing the economy, regulating the banks, tackling climate change, modernising our energy and transport infrastructure, putting our universities on a sustainable financial footing or dealing with the challenges of an ageing population and reforming public sector pensions, we have consistently chosen to do what is right over what is easy or popular; what is in our country’s long-term interest over our parties’ short-term interest.”
In yesterday’s press conference, Mr Clegg in particular was eager to make mention of the difficulties the Coalition, and the Liberal Democrats in particular, have faced in the past two and a half years, speaking of the public ‘throwing rocks at us’ and of being ‘attacked on all sides’ no matter which steps and measures are taken.
Although the path so far has been rocky, Mr Cameron was keen to announce that ‘the OBR is forecasting growth’ and that the future for the Coalition is assured:
“As we take these steps to reshape the British state for the 21st century, we will take further steps to limit its scope and extend our freedoms. We will be making announcements about each of these policy initiatives in due course.”
Despite this, Labour Leader Ed Miliband accused the Coalition of glossing over the facts and delivering ‘no real substance and no real detail’ in the Mid-Term Review:
“All the promises they made to us about what they would achieve about economic growth haven’t come true. They are struggling to reduce the deficit this year – the central promise that they made to the country.”
Indeed, one notable absence from the Review is Chancellor George Osborne’s promise to completely eliminate the deficit by 2015/16. Although mention was made of the work done so far to reduce the deficit, rather than detail how the Coalition plans to keep to the Chancellor’s promise Mr Clegg instead stated that the work needed to get the economy back on track would stretch beyond the Coalition’s current term in office, and that ‘the next government will need to complete the job that we have started’.
The full Review is available to view at http://midtermreview.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/. If you have any views on the Coalition Government’s successes at its halfway point in office, join the debate on Twitter @GovOpps