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Press Release

Business calls for equal treatment from local authorities

Wednesday 29 November 2006

The Federation of Small Businesses reacted warmly to the announcement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, that the Local Better Regulation Office (LBRO) is to be launched ahead of schedule this year rather than in 2009. However, the UK’s largest business organisation called on the Government to maintain this momentum to ensure that the promises of a reduced red tape burden will actually be delivered.

The LBRO is designed to lighten the regulatory load on business by making sure that enforcement is taken at a uniform level across all local authorities and is based on risk.

The FSB’s survey “Lifting the Barriers to Growth 2006” revealed that 53% of members are either dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the volume of regulation, 52% are either dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with the complexity of regulation, 29% are dissatisfied with the inspection regime and 31% with the enforcement regime. Small firms spend an average of 28 hours per month filling in forms.

The FSB believes that LBRO can therefore help small firms and reduce these figures, which reflect the hard times that businesses have with over-bearing regulation and enforcement.

John Walker, FSB National Policy Chairman, said:

“Eighty per cent of enforcement takes place at the local level. This initiative is therefore very important. It is vital that small businesses across the UK are treated equally regardless of which local authority area they find themselves in.

“However, we are concerned that the initiative is taking too long to get off the ground and is struggling to maintain momentum. This puts progress to date under threat and leaves us worrying if it will ever deliver.

“Many enforcement inspections and penalty regimes are disproportionate to the threat posed by non-compliance. The core premise of enforcement should be based on the approach that businesses want to comply. If firms are treated with respect and helped to pull their weight, rather than hammered for the slightest honest mistake, the life of business and enforcement agencies would be much improved. Bringing forward the date of the launch of LBRO is good news but it is only a first step. It must now deliver.”



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Federation of Small Businesses

Federation of Small Businesses

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