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FPB outlines small business hopes for Budget

Published On 15 March 2007 at 16:32:18

Ahead of Gordon's Brown last Budget as chancellor, the Forum of Private Business (FPB) has detailed its 'wish-list' of actions that would help promote business.

Due to be unveiled on Wednesday March 21st, the FPB hopes that the Budget will include measures to "help make the UK a country in which smaller businesses can survive and thrive".

Among the areas in need of the chancellor's attention, according to the FPB, are Low Value Consignment Relief, which it says puts small retailers at a disadvantage, and the simplification of processes such as VAT registration.

"The government must deliver on promises to cut regulatory and administrative burdens, reduce tax burdens, open up government contracts to smaller businesses and work harder to understand the needs of smaller companies in areas such as education," campaigns manager Victoria Carson said.

The FPB also called for public contracts to be made more easily accessible to small businesses and for the National Minimum Wage to be linked with the Retail Price Index.

A separate report published this week found that the £12 billion of public money spent on support schemes for businesses are not delivering value for money.

The Conservatives' small business taskforce claimed that the current support system is an "overly complex maze" that loses around a third of its funding in administration.

 

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