Cutting regulation to free up founders
The Small Business Commissioner on why reducing the regulatory burden is one of the most powerful things government can do for entrepreneurs The post Cutting regulation to free up founders appeared first on Elite Business Magazine.
Black News 
If there is one thing founders consistently tell me, it’s that they feel burdened by ‘layers of stuff’ they have to do in their business, before time and energy can be spent working on the business. A Taskforce has been set up to address this, with an 8-week sprint to identify regulations getting in the way of growth, and you can have your say.
Co-chaired by Minister Blair McDougall MP and FSB Chair, Tina McKenzie MBE, the focus of the Taskforce is to: ‘identify priority areas for reform and develop evidence-based recommendations to streamline processes, improve clarity and create a more effective and proportionate regulatory environment for SMEs.’
This will be delivered through an 8-week focused set of activity with Taskforce members meeting every fortnight to assess evidence and develop recommendations. Taskforce members have been allocated workstreams from the list below and are committed to the job.
I am on the Taskforce in a supportive role, with my contribution being a) late payment is a burden and we are ‘on it’ in terms of addressing this particular productivity stalling problem and b) making the case to create a similar function to the US with their Office of Advocacy where small businesses submit regulations for review and consideration to be scrapped.
The end output of the sprint is for Taskforce members to produce a report with recommendations as to how the Government can reduce the administrative and regulatory burden faced by small businesses, either through regulatory reform or wider change. The Government will then set out its response to these recommendations in the Autumn. In summary, this is a fast-paced piece of work.
The first meet was in mid-June and the Taskforce is underway. In Minister McDougall’s own words; ‘These sprints work well when they are fast, nimble, and practical. I want you to come up with ideas that can have an immediate impact.’
The Taskforce has been created as part of an ambition, set out in the Small Business Plan, to reduce the cost to small firms of regulation and admin by 25%. If you have specific points of regulation or processes that place unnecessary burden on your business, please share them here so they can be considered. The more specific, the better. Thank you to all founders visited on SME Safaris to date who have provided such points. It’s only through knowledge of them, that the Taskforce can address them.
And as always, if you are dealing with issues with late payments, my team might be able to help. You can contact them here.
Taskforce workstreams
– Modernising Regulatory Submissions
– SME friendly approaches to regulatory guidance
– Exploring Regulatory Passporting Initiatives
– Reviewing the SME impact from regulatory enforcement across regulators and local authorities
– Examining what more the government can do to support SMEs to build capability, resource and technology that will help them in achieving tax and regulatory compliance
The post Cutting regulation to free up founders appeared first on Elite Business Magazine.
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