§ Mr. HoyleTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what measures she is taking to reduce the burden of regulation on small businesses. [92029]
§ Nigel GriffithsIndependent reports from the OECD, Anderson growth plus and others show the UK in general to be a less regulated than most International Competitors. Since January 2000, the Government has put in place a number of measures to further reduce the burden of regulation on small businesses. The SmallBusiness Service now scrutinises newly proposed regulations for their likely impact on SMEs and encourages reform and rationalisation of wxisting regulation. It works closely with DTI's Better Regulation Team to help Departments develop alternatives to regulation.
Examples of measures taken include 485,000 businesses had their corporation tax bill cut or abolished through measures announced in Budget 2002, and 700,000 benefited from the flat rate VAT scheme. Overall around 9000,000 SMEs have benefited.