§ Mr. David ShawTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if he will make a statement on the achievements of(a) his policies and (b) his Department in helping small businesses over the last 12 months as against the previous 12 months; and if he will publish the performance indicators by which his Department monitors those achievements and the statistical results of such monitoring.
§ Mr. Heseltine[holding answer 22 July 1991]: The Government continue to place a high priority on helping small businesses, through improvements to the business climate, through deregulation and other measures through specific programmes of support and assistance.
Separate information on small businesses is not available. But all businesses will benefit from the simplification and clarification of the Building Regulations now being undertaken. It is intended that amended regulations will be made this autumn and come into operation next year.
The Planning and Compensation Bill includes a number of measures to improve the efficiency of the planning system, which should be of benefit to small businesses. We have amended the General Development Order to allow factory or warehouse extensions built as permitted development to be used for social or welfare purposes for employees, including creche facilities for their children.
The White Paper "Releasing Enterprise"—Cm. 512—notes that the system of integrated pollution control—IPC 526W —would be less burdensome to industry as a whole than the previous arrangements. IPC was given statutory force by the Environmental Protection Act 1990.