Conservatives seeking boost for small business

Posted on 13 Apr 2010

The Manifesto includes a section on Boosting small business (page 16), and this commits to:

• Making small business rate relief automatic.
• Any new business paying no Employers National Insurance on the first ten employees it hires during its first year, for the first two years of a Conservative government.
• Keeping the minimum wage - but no further detail is provided on this.
• Support for would-be entrepreneurs through a new programme - Work for Yourself - which will give unemployed people direct access to business mentors and substantial loans.
• Looking at how to abolish the default retirement age and forcing equal pay audits on any company found to be discriminating on the basis of gender.
• It states that: "In the end, it is not the state that creates sustainable employment - it is business people. And small businesses are especially important to the UK's economic recovery and to tackling unemployment. Government can help boost enterprise by lowering tax rates, reducing regulation and improving workers' skills."

The Government's decision to add one penny on National Insurance Contributions is opposed with a commitment to act immediately to cut government waste to stop part of the National Insurance rise for employers and for anyone earning under £35,000. The Manifesto pledges to make the following changes in April 2011, relative to Labour's plans:

• Raise the primary threshold for National Insurance by £24 a week and raise the Upper Earnings Limit by £29 a week; and,
• Raise the secondary threshold at which employers start paying National Insurance by £21 a week.

There are a number of additional highlights that relate to the independent retail sector, and these include:

• Reforming the regulation and structure of the banking system to ensure lower levels of leverage, less dependence on unstable wholesale funding, and greater availability of credit for SMEs.
• Initially cutting the headline rate of corporation tax to 25p and the small companies' rate to 20p, funded by reducing complex reliefs and allowances.
• Creating an independent Office of Tax Simplification to suggest reforms to the tax system.
• Giving councils new powers to introduce further discounts on business rates.
• Introducing regulatory budgets which force any government body wanting to introduce a new regulation to reduce regulation elsewhere by a greater amount, and giving the public the opportunity to force the worst regulations to be repealed.
• Encouraging new businesses to start up by reducing the number of forms needed to register a new business - moving towards a ‘one-click' registration model - to make Britain the fastest place in the world to start a business, and ending the restrictions on social tenants starting a business from their homes.
• Introducing an independent supermarket ombudsman to ensure the grocery supply code of practice is applied fairly.
• Giving SMEs a £2,000 bonus for every apprentice they hire.
  

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