Government backing business

15 Jan 2001

Almost 300,000 businesses in Scotland will benefit from a Government initiative designed to address the specific needs and concerns of small business, Scotland Office Minister, Brian Wilson, announced today (Monday 15 January).

Speaking following the publication of "Think Small First", that outlines the approach that Government and the Small Business Service are taking to support small businesses, Mr Wilson said:

"The importance of small and medium sized enterprises to the economy cannot be over stated. In Scotland, as in the UK as a whole, 99% of businesses are small or medium sized enterprises - there are 295,000 such businesses in Scotland that account for over 1 million jobs.

"That is why this Government has listened to the views of small business and is determined to support small businesses as much as possible.

"Think Small First sets out three priority areas that the Government will focus on in order to help small companies grow and succeed in an ever more competitive world market.

• To ensure that the needs and interests of small business are taken fully into account when formulating policy, including macro-economic stability;
• To simplify and streamline the regulatory framework for business;
• To provide support for business at each stage of the business life cycle, including people, skills, advice, workspace, IT and finance.

"The Government has established the Small Business Service to bring together under one roof our support for small businesses in the UK. It was established not just to deliver support for small businesses but also to represent their views within Government. "Think Small First" is one of the key results of that representative work - it commits the Government to ensure that it puts the needs and concerns of small businesses at the heart of what we do.

"One of the concerns that small businesses have voiced is the burden of regulation. The Government has taken steps to tackle this through, for example, the Regulatory Reform Bill that will provide a shortcut for dealing with outdated regulation. Today's publication adds to that by committing Government Departments that impact significantly on small businesses to "think small first". This means that in the future they will give added consideration to the needs of small businesses when framing policies and legislation.

"In Scotland the Scottish Government is working hard to ensure that it improves the delivery of support to small businesses and the establishment of the Small Business Gateway is an important aspect of that. What is important is that we continue to share good practice in across the whole of the UK.

"I am sure that small businesses in Scotland will welcome the publication of "Think Small First". It marks a step change in the way that Government thinks about small business and will deliver significant improvements in the support that the Government gives to small businesses in the UK."

NOTES TO NEWS EDITORS

1. Copies of 'Think Small First' are available at www.businessadviceonline.org or by phoning 0114 259 7788.

2. 'Think Small First'was launched as a consultation document on 2 October 2000, along with 'Integrating the business support infrastructure for SMEs', which set out a national framework for business support. The documents were circulated to small firms' representative organisations, Local Authorities, Chambers of Commerce, TECs, Enterprise Agencies, business support organisation, devolved administrations and others.

3. The Small Business Service(SBS) provides a single organisation in Government dedicated to helping small firms and representing them within Government. Its mission is to build an enterprise society in which small firms of all kinds thrive and achieve their potential.