§ Mr. Gryllsasked the Secretary of State for Industry if he will list all the changes made by the Government since 3 May affecting small business; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. David MitchellI refer my hon. Friend to the reply I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Aberdeen, South (Mr. Sproat) on 27 February—[Vol. 878, c.565–66]—that the Government's general economic policies are designed to improve the climate in which all businesses operate and to make the start-up or expansion of a small firm more worthwhile.
The first steps in this direction were taken in last year's Budget with its considerable reductions in direct taxation, 326W extension of the criteria for the lower rate corporation tax and the "writing-off" of liabilities under the stock relief scheme. The Chancellor also announced a major review of capital taxation, which is a cause of great concern to small business men.
Among the other major measures introduced which will help small firms are several changes made to the Employment Protection Act by order and in the Employment Bill; a reduction in the amount of financial accounting information many small companies are required to disclose; proposals for speeding up planning procedures; extension of the English Industrial Estates Corporation's building programme of small workshop units; a reduction in the number of statistical surveys sent to companies; and an extension of the Department of Industry's advisory services to small firms, including a pilot scheme to hep make available finance from a pension fund in relatively small amounts.