Dossier to cut red tape for small firms

A dossier castigating the Government over the amount of red tape that small firms are subjected to has been sent to Cabinet minister Mo Mowlam. The Federation of Small Businesses wants the dossier to act as the catalyst for Government to review the hurdles that "are stifling business growth".

FSB wants action to "protect small firms from the effect of further legislation" and a "reduction of the overall burden of regulation".

The dossier was compiled from FSB members' comments on which regulations were causing the most harm. Among these were: Working Time Regulations (cited by 16.4% of respondents); health and safety/environmental and fire regulations (16.4%); and the Construction Industry Scheme on taxation (9.8%).

FSB national policy chairman Donald Martin commented: "What is needed is a double-pronged attack - a crackdown on record keeping and paperwork, as well as a need to 'think small first' and protect small firms from the impact of individual pieces of legislation."