Small Businesses (Hansard, 11 July 2000)

§ Mr. Miller
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what operational targets he has set for the Small Business Service for 2000–01. [130370]

§ Ms Hewitt
The Small Business Service (SBS) was established on 1 April. The Framework Document, which sets out the relationship between the SBS and the Department of Trade and Industry, has already been placed in the Library of the House.
I have agreed with David Irwin, the Chief Executive, that the mission of the SBS should be to build an enterprise society in which all small businesses thrive and achieve their potential.
The aims of the SBS are:

To help all small businesses realise their potential;

To promote world class business support to enhance the performance of small firms with growth potential;

To help promote enterprise across society and particularly in under-represented groups and disadvantaged communities; and

To achieve the highest standards of service delivery and provide value for money.

I expect the SBS to review its plans regularly in response to the needs of small businesses, particularly in its first year of operation. In line with the request for all Agencies to be given operational targets, I have set the following targets for the 2000–01 year:
Operational Targets

150,000 individuals and businesses to use SBS services each quarter;

80 per cent. of customers to be satisfied;

SBS service standards to be published by September 2000;

Review business support services and publish the results by December 2000;

Establish an index of the impact of regulation on small businesses by December 2000;
474W
45 franchises to be established by April 2001;

Establish the Information and Advisory Service, including systems to allow on-line transactions and notification of regulation to small businesses by April 2001.

Finance
100 per cent. of valid invoices paid within 30 days.
Questions Delegated to the Chief Executive
Chief Executive to reply to all letters within 10 working days, including letters from MPs delegated to him for reply.
Investors in People
SBS Agency to achieve its own recognition as an Investor in People by 31 March 2001.

§ Mr. Fearn
To ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if he will introduce a small business employers' charter stipulating the rights of employers. [129954]

§ Ms Hewitt
The Government have no plans to introduce an employers' charter as described.
The European Charter for Small Enterprises, agreed last month at the Feira Council, set out a number of commitments to help small businesses. Areas for action, both at the European and member state level, include improving access to finance, enhancing business support, better regulation and strengthening innovation and entrepreneurship. These actions are designed to ensure that small businesses thrive in the European Union and that it becomes the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world.