Small Businesses will benefit from extended red tape freeze

New Forest accountant, Peter Lashmar of Lashmars Tax Accountants in Lymington, Hampshire, explains how the recent announcement by Business Minister Michael Fallon will help small businesses.

The Government has announced that the moratorium exempting businesses with fewer than 10 employees from new regulations will now be extended to firms with up to 50 staff, and will continue beyond 2014. Businesses will also be exempted from new regulations if there is any evidence that they will result in disproportionate burdens that could impede growth.

The new Small and Micro Business Assessment builds upon and strengthens the current Micro-Business Moratorium, which was introduced following the Budget in 2011. This introduced a presumption that businesses with fewer than 10 employees, including start-up businesses, should be exempt from new regulation.

According to the Business Minister, Michael Fallon, “We all want faster growth. As Britain recovers, small businesses are leading the generation of ideas, the creation of new jobs and the shift towards a balanced economy. We cannot afford to hold them back with more rules and regulations.”

New proposals for regulation will first undergo an initial departmental impact assessment, which will be considered by the independent Regulatory Policy Committee, before facing further challenge and scrutiny by the Reducing Regulation Committee, a sub-Committee of Cabinet. If, at any stage, unnecessary burdens on small businesses are identified, proposals will only be cleared if an exemption is granted to smaller businesses – or if disproportionate burdens on small businesses are fully mitigated.

In carrying out their initial impact assessments of proposed new regulation, Government departments will be required to consider a wider range of mitigating strategies, such as:

• Providing extra time for small businesses to comply with new regulations, so that changes to equipment or processes can be made at a time that suits the business. - Simplifying record-keeping requirements for smaller businesses. - Tailoring advice and guidance so that smaller businesses can quickly find out what regulatory changes mean for them in practice. - Varying regulatory requirements, such as inspection frequencies or licensing requirements by size of business, to ensure a proportionate regulatory approach.

The changes follow the Government’s introduction in January this year of the ‘One-in, Two-out’ rule, which requires that any new regulations must be offset by savings equal to twice the costs they will impose on business.

The Small and Micro Business Assessment will apply to new regulations that come into force after 31 March 2014.

If you would like to find out more about how these changes might affect your business – or to arrange a FREE initial consultation, please contact Peter Lashmar and his team at Lashmars Tax Accountants Limited.