§ Mr. LuffTo ask the Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food what assistance is available to small growers and farmers for their payroll systems under schemes operated by(a) his and (b) other Government Departments. [117689]
55W
§ Ms QuinMAFF does not offer any assistance to small growers and farmers for their payroll system. However the Department of Trade and Industry conducted a consultation exercise in 1999 on the possible development of a payroll service for small business. As a result it was agreed that the Inland Revenue's New Enterprise Support Initiative (NESI) would be extended to provide on-going, one to one support for payroll assistance. As from 1 April 2000, the expanded NESI includes, free of charge, the following:
- a dedicated helpline;
- the offer of a visit from locally based Business Support Team;
- a detailed "health check" of the employers payroll system;
- the offer of further help including one-to-one visits and increased support where new employers are experiencing difficulties with payroll;
- cross referral to the full services of the Small Business Service, both nationally and locally.