Crystal Umbrella

Just this week the Conservative Party set out their plans for a fairer taxation system if they were to win this year’s general election. Now, the Federation of Small Business (FSB) is requesting all of the main political parties to make clear their plans for small firms before the General Election takes place.

The FSB is due to have its annual conference in March this year. They have lined up speakers from all of the major political parties to speak at the event in Aberdeen. Speaking at the conference will be Tory Leader David Cameron, Nick Clegg, Leader of the Liberal Democrats and Business Secretary Lord Mandelson. Since the General Election is likely to take place shortly after this even, it will be interesting to hear the plans that each party puts forward.

In a FSB press release, National Chairman, John Wright, said: “The FSB’s Annual Conference is set to give small businesses the information they need to survive the year ahead as the country gets ready to go to the polls, and we look to an incoming Government to continue to move us forward on the road to recovery. The event will give small businesses the chance to hear exactly what politicians will do for them before the General Election.”

He concluded: “Small businesses truly are the lifeblood of the economy and are doing all they can to ensure the country fully recovers from the recession this year. The FSB Annual Conference 2010 in Aberdeen will give small firms the chance to debate the issues that really matter to them.”

The shadow work and pensions minister, Mark Harper, has questioned how much the government’s Business Link service has spent on support for start-up businesses and contractors. Harper was asking how much of the £207 million Business Link budget was ringfenced for one-person ventures or new companies. He put this to Lord Mandelson’s business department, requesting figures for the past twelve months. However Pat McFadden, Lord Mandelson’s deputy, has refused to provide the requested information. He stated that the department would incur a prohibitive cost for gathering this data.

In response to Mr Harper’s question, Mr McFadden stated: “The department provides regional development agencies with funding in a single pot for the delivery of services. The RDAs contract with regional suppliers to deliver Business Link. The question requires gathering data from the nine regions and the multiple suppliers they contract with to deliver start up services locally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.”

Business Link are now providing courses where people can gain knowledge about how to run their own business. However, these courses are only accessible by people who have been claiming jobseeker’s allowance for a period of six months or more. The government have also recently conceded that some people on shorter term unemployment may also be eligible to attend some of the self-employment training courses. These concessions relate to specific groups including people with a history of homelessness and other disadvantaged members of the community.