§ 3. Mr. Christopher Chope (Christchurch)If she will meet the Small Business Service to discuss the recommendations of the National Audit Office report "Better Regulation: making good use of regulatory impact assessments"; and if she will make a statement. [16471]
§ The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Trade and Industry (Nigel Griffiths)I am discussing the NAO report with the Small Business Service. I thank the hon. Gentleman for asking me to make good use of regulatory impact assessments. How about this: RIAs have identified that 94 per cent. of the costs on business result from two measures, the national minimum wage and the working time directive? The first is now supported by the hon. Gentleman's party; the second is one on which the Conservatives abstained in Brussels in 1993.
§ Mr. ChopeThe Minister's typically complacent response to the serious recommendations of the NAO shows that the Government merely pay lip service to reducing the burden of regulation on small businesses, while that burden is increasing all the time. What will be done to ensure that the Small Business Service produces the report recommended by the NAO in recommendation 26. vii, and what action has the Department taken in response to the earlier recommendation of the better regulation taskforce that it become a champion of small retailers, who find that they are spending up to five full days every month dealing with Government administration?
§ Nigel GriffithsThe NAO put the record straight and commended us for using regulatory impact assessments to avoid £150 million in costs to business on one measure alone. Of course it is important that we do everything that we can to minimise red tape. That is why we have appointed a Minister with responsibility for regulatory reform in every Department, established a ministerial panel for regulatory accountability, and passed the Regulatory Reform Act 2001 to provide a fast track for reducing burdens and scrapping outdated legislation. The hon. Gentleman speaks with some authority on the matter. When he was a Minister in the six years after 1986, 18,434 regulations were passed.
§ Mr. Adrian Bailey (West Bromwich, West)Does my hon. Friend agree that small businesses are for ever complaining about the alleged burden of red tape? Can he update the House on the progress made by the deregulation unit in the Department of Trade and Industry?
§ Nigel GriffithsGood progress has been made. Many small businesses do not have the resources—the legal and accountancy advice—available to large businesses. That makes it necessary for every Government Department to think small first. It is important to remind the House, as my hon. Friend has done, that a great deal of valuable work has been carried out by Government. That is perhaps one reason why Arthur Andersen research shows the UK as the country that provides the most overall friendly entrepreneurial environment, fostering growth companies most effectively.
§ Mr. Philip Hammond (Runnymede and Weybridge)The Small Business Service was set up less than two years ago to champion the interests of small business in Government. The Minister confirmed this morning that he will discuss the report with the Small Business Service. Can he explain why his right hon. Friend the Secretary of State found it necessary to strip the Small Business Service of that role, leading directly to the resignation of 1091 its respected chief executive, Mr. David Irwin? Can he tell the House which crony of the Government his right hon. Friend intends to put in place of Mr. Irwin as the new small and medium-sized enterprise tsar?
§ Nigel GriffithsThe Opposition spokesperson is wrong on both counts. The role of the Small Business Service has been strengthened, and Mr. David Irwin, who has shown excellent leadership and ensured that the Small Business Service is helping thousands of businesses through Business Links and other Government measures, has informed me that he is serving out his full contract. There is no question of him resigning.
§ Ms Debra Shipley (Stourbridge)What assessment would my hon. Friend make of the impact of the Chancellor's speech on small businesses in my Stourbridge constituency, bearing it in mind that half of them are located in the black country—a very deprived area?
§ Nigel GriffithsWe must ensure that the communities for which my hon. Friend speaks enjoy the general economic prosperity. The Phoenix fund and other DTI measures are ensuring that companies get a chance to start and to grow in such communities. I know that she will welcome the simplification of tax for small business that was announced the day before yesterday, among other useful measures. The VAT simplification is helping up to 900,000 businesses, and the simplification of taxation for small businesses is helping up to half a million firms. I hope that all those measures will persuade more firms to locate in her constituency.