FSB – welcomes moves to reduce regulatory burden

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has today welcomed the Coalition Government’s launch of the ‘Your Freedom’ website.

The website, which aims to give the public the chance to nominate the laws they would like to see abolished will also ask which regulations should be removed to make running a business easier.

A third (33%) of small business owners said that regulation was the biggest barrier to growth in 2009, and the FSB has set up its own portal to encourage member feedback on what regulation they would like to see removed.

The announcement was made on the same day that a new Cabinet committee with the job of reducing the heavy burden of red tape on business, chaired by Business Secretary Vince Cable, met for the first time.

Mike Cherry, Policy Chairman, Federation of Small Businesses, said:

“Giving the public and business owners the chance to shape the regulation and legislation which directly affects them is a welcome move by the Government. We urge our members to log on to the website to help reduce the bureaucracy faced by small firms.

“Small businesses want to grow, but are stifled by red tape and excessive legislation, with 33 per cent of FSB members citing regulation as the biggest obstacle to growth in 2009.

“We have seen similar initiatives from previous administrations and we hope that the Government puts the needs of the 4.8 million small businesses in the UK first.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors

1. The FSB is the UK’s leading business organisation with over 213,000 members. It exists to protect and promote the interests of the self-employed, and all those who run their own business. More information is available at
www.fsb.org.uk

2. The FSB portal for member feedback on how to reduce the regulatory burden can be found at www.fsb.org.uk/regulatoryburden

Contacts
Stephen Alambritis: 020 7592 8112/ 07788 422155
Eric Beech: 020 7592 8128/ 07917 628998
eric.beech@fsb.org.uk
Sara Lee: 020 7592 8113/ 07595 067068
sara.lee@fsb.org.uk