FSB: Localism Bill must consider its impact on businesses

As the Bill goes to Report stage, the FSB says that leaving local businesses out misses the point of how central small businesses are to the local economy.

As part of the Government’s ‘Big Society’ push, the Localism Bill aims to shift power from central government back to local communities. The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) is concerned that the Bill as it stands is a missed opportunity that doesn’t fully recognise the importance of businesses in the local community.

Small firms are the drivers of local economies and will take the lead in ensuring that economic recovery is strengthened. The FSB is concerned that the neighbourhood planning proposals, including neighbourhood forums proposed in the Bill, do not adequately provide for local business involvement.

The FSB is urging MPs to amend this part of the Bill as it reaches Report Stage in Parliament (Tuesday 17 March 2011) to ensure that business owners are able to join the forums to protect economic growth in local areas.

There should also be more recognition of the role that Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) can play. LEPs could be instrumental in holding councils to account if they fail to co-operate on key strategic issues such as transport and planning across local authority boundaries under the ‘duty to co-operate’ clause.

Finally, FSB also has significant concerns over part of the Bill which would give local communities the right to nominate and then suspend the sale of a local business property that has been placed on a safe list, known as The Community Right to Buy.

The FSB is concerned that this confusing proposal misses the mark, as although the Government’s aim is to help local communities preserve local assets it would, in fact, be more likely to put a small business owner at risk.

For many local communities it is the service that the business provides – not the property – that is the asset. Restricting the sale of a property to give the community the time to bid for it would not necessarily preserve the business itself, just delay the actual sale of the property and potentially threaten a viable private sale.

John Walker, National Chairman, Federation of Small Businesses, said:

“The aims of the Localism Bill are clear, but there are many issues that need to be addressed while it is still being debated and before it is enshrined in law. We call for MPs to amend the Bill to ensure that the needs of local businesses are fully reflected.

“We are disappointed that the Bill doesn’t currently recognise the importance of local businesses within the local community – it will be these businesses that will be key to strengthening the economic recovery.

“One of the FSB’s main concerns is that businesses cannot currently become involved with the neighbourhood forums on planning. While residents may have an idea about what they would like to see, it is only fair that the local businesses that generate growth and prosperity in the areas have their say too.

“For example it simply doesn’t make sense that local business owners could not become members of a forum covering an area such as a town centre or industrial estate, when it is not just residents that would be affected by planning decisions. We want to see an immediate change in this part of the bill.

“We are also concerned that businesses placed on the ‘Community Right to Buy’ lists will see their properties devalue and that potential buyers could be deterred from buying their property. We want to see the Bill amended so that any community group that wants to place a property on the list should have to demonstrate the willingness and ability to buy it.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors

1. The FSB is Britain’s leading business organisation with over 205,000 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. Under the Community Right to Buy proposal a business property that has been placed on a list would not be able to be sold until the local community has had a chance to bid for it. The FSB believes that the bill should be amended so that any community group that wishes to place a business property on the list must demonstrate a willingness and capacity to bid for it were it to go on sale. At present the proposals could see a whole host of speculative listings of properties that have no real prospect of being bought by the local community.

3. The Bill should also inform the business owner if the local authority makes a decision to put them on the list and they should have a full right of appeal to the decision.

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Contacts

Sophie Kummer: 020 7592 8128/ 07917 628998 sophie.kummer@fsb.org.uk
Prue Watson: 020 7592 8121/ 07825 125695 prue.watson@fsb.org.uk
Sara Lee: 020 7592 8113/ 07595 067068 sara.lee@fsb.org.uk

For regional FSB contacts please go to www.fsb.org.uk