§ Mr. SalmondTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what steps he has taken since 1997 to reduce the administrative burden on small businesses. [109562]
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§ Ms Hewitt[holding answer 14 February 2000]: One of the key steps has been to establish the Small Business Service, which is to be formally launched in April this year. One of the primary functions of the Small Business Service will be to find ways of reducing the regulatory burden encountered by small business, by eliminating unnecessary regulations wherever possible and ensuring that the "Think Small First" principle is applied across Whitehall to all new regulations. The Small Business Service will also encourage Government Departments to make information on regulations more comprehensible and accessible, including through an SBS gateway.
Other important measures taken by the Department include exempting small shops from the EU requirement to unit price pre-packaged goods in fixed quantities and exempting employers with 20 or fewer employees from the trade union recognition procedures in the Employment Relations Act 1999. In addition we have recently consulted on proposals to increase the threshold below which companies are not required to have their accounts independently audited.