DTI scraps Small Business Council

02 05 2007 United Kingdom

The watchdog body set up by the government to advise and report on small business issues has been axed by the DTI.

The Small Business Council, set up to be ‘the independent voice for small businesses at the heart of government’, has been replaced by a discussion forum, announced Margaret Hodge, the Minister for Industry and the Regions.

The Small Business Council (SBC) was set up in May 2000 as a 20-strong advisory body that is independent – and often critical - of the government. The chairman, William Sargent, reported on policy issues to the Secretary of State at the Department of Trade and Industry and had direct access to the Prime Minister.

In an annual report the SBC pressed government to allocate more resources into cutting Red Tape. Mr Sargent also attended the ministerial panel on regulation, where, he told the FT cheerfully, "I seem to be a genuine outsider!"

The SBC has not been afraid to voice its views to government. Its role was strengthened after Patricia Hewitt, then the trade secretary, charged Mr Sargent with making the SBC a "prominent and independent voice . . . that is influential across Whitehall".

One contentious issue was the plan to hand responsibility for Business Links, the advice centres for entrepreneurs, into the local control of the Regional Development Agencies. Mr Sargent said the SBC had been "possibly the most pissed off it has ever been" over the government’s proposal.

The SBC was also very critical of the Business Link helpline and played a major role in heading off government proposals for the uniform business rate.

“Since its inception the Council has made 92 recommendations to the DTI,” said Mr Sargent, “of which 76 per cent have been either fully or partially accepted.

“I believe there is no better testament to our efficacy and the successful partnership that has been developed between the Council and the Government over the last seven years.”

The 20 council members - active entrepreneurs - held ‘town hall-style meetings’ with owners and managers of smaller enterprises before compiling their annual reports. Top of the list of topics were employment regulation, workforce skills and business support and finance.

"If policy is well designed, there will be better compliance," said Mr Sargent. “And you get well designed policy by involving the people it affects.”

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