Weekly Brief

Week 05 of 2010      Friday 5 February 2010

Government still paying late
The FSB urged the Government to include a Social Clause in all Government contracts to ensure that all invoices are paid on time, as the FSB-ICM 'Voice of Small Business' Annual Report showed that one in three payments from the public sector are still paid late. Read the coverage in the Financial Times, Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph and listen to the podcast.

FSB Annual Dinner 2010
Look at the pictures from the FSB Annual Dinner where Lord Mandelson gave the keynote speech.

OFT opens consultation on CAMRA super-complaint decision
After much lobbying from the FSB, consumer and publican groups, the Office of Fair Trading has opened another investigation into the tied pub sector and has published a  consultation on its initial response to the super-complaint submitted by the Campaign for Real Ale. The FSB believes the tie as its stands is unfair and is calling for reform to eliminate anti-competitive practices in the industry.

Budget win north of the border.
The FSB in Scotland had a key win when higher thresholds of their Small Business Rates Relief were announced this week. Any firm with a rateable value of under £18,000 will now get some relief and the 100 per cent relief threshold has been boosted to £10,000. More details on the Scottish Government webpage.

Small business and families
The FSB, in conjunction with HR magazine, is holding a seminar and reception on family friendly workplaces. Given the present economic context, the event will address the challenge of maintaining business support for families throughout the recession and into recovery.  Theresa May MP, Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary and Shadow Minister for Women is sponsoring the event and speaking at the reception, on 25 February 2pm – 5.45pm in the House of Commons. Attendance is free and light refreshments will be provided. If you would like to attend, or require more information, please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  

Electoral Roll consultation
The Government could abolish the edited electoral roll which organisations can buy from local authorities and use for any purpose. It is consulting on the issue after a review of Government data handling recommended that it be scrapped. If you have concerns about this, please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

FSB EU newsletter
Read a short summary of the FSB’s activities in Brussels and the latest issues affecting small businesses.

FSB welcomes French to London
On 28 January FSB National Chairman John Wright welcomed a delegation of the Mouvement des Entreprises de France (Movement of the French Enterprises) who were on a fact-finding visit in London. Read more about it. 

Contract opportunities
The FSB has worked with the Office of Government Commerce (OGC) to launch an awareness raising campaign to promote greater access for smaller firms to the £220 billion worth of contract opportunities awarded by the public sector each year. The OGC has also published the guidance showing how the public sector can make it easier for small businesses to identify contract opportunities and a free online public procurement course to help smaller firms bid for contracts.

Work Inspiration
Business in the Community is driving innovation in work experience and is looking for businesses to offer work experience to young people. www.workinspiration.com.

Reduce regulation
The FSB is calling for small businesses to tell us their biggest regulatory bug-bears so we can tell Government what regulation needs to be changed or removed completely. Find out more and give us your views.

Follow the FSB on Facebook
You can now follow the activities of the FSB by joining our brand new official fanpage on Facebook. Become a fan to view regularly updated events, photo galleries, lobbying information and interactive content.

Like what you read?
Bookmark this page using social media sites such as Delicious, Digg, reddit, StumbleUpon, and keep in the loop about the FSB’s activities by subscribing to our RRS feed and following us on Twitter.

FSB News Release
PR 2010 03
 
Issue date: 1 February 2010

Government still fails to pay on time, with one in three payments from the public sector being made late, FSB-ICM report shows

FSB and ICM launch full results of the most extensive survey of the small business sector during the recession, with 10,000 small firms responding

Government and its agencies are still paying small businesses late despite making commitments over a year ago to pay within 10 days, the FSB-ICM ‘Voice of Small Business’ Annual Survey report shows.

The report found that local Government is likely to pay one in four invoices late, and central Government and Government agencies make one in three payments late. This is despite putting a Prompt Payment Code in place and central Government promising to pay within 10 days at the start of the recession in 2008. 

Small businesses have faced a challenging year, with over half (52%) of those surveyed reporting that profits had fallen in 2009. As the recession took hold all businesses felt the pinch, however it is the small business community which bears the brunt of this practice and are leaned on by big businesses which continue to pay late. The survey shows UK central Government (31%), Government agencies (30%), EU institutions (30%), NHS (29%) and local authorities (25%) all put the pressure on too, despite promises to the contrary. Thirty four per cent of payments from the private sector are late according to the survey.
Frustratingly, many businesses have had to resort to using their own long and short-term finance. The survey shows that 41 per cent dipped into personal savings and 43 per cent used their overdrafts last year. Twenty one per cent used a personal credit card. This may be an indication of self-reliance as they encountered a banking sector which refused to lend.

While large firms have sufficient reserves to cope with late payments, a small business relies on payment within the agreed timescale to ensure it has a steady cash-flow. 
The FSB is now urging Government to take the lead in tacking this problem by implementing a ‘Social Clause’ in national and local Government contracts. This relies on the Government stepping up its game, paying swiftly and then giving a guarantee that when the Government pays the lead contractor quickly, this is passed down the supply chain to all sub-contractors – with penalties attached for persistent non-compliance.

John Wright, National Chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, said:

“It is shocking that after the Government put the Prompt Payment Code in place so many businesses are still being paid late. The public sector needs to take the lead in more than word alone and set an example that paying late isn’t acceptable, as this problem persists in the private sector.

“Small businesses rely on receiving payments within the timescale agreed to maintain cash-flow to ensure the business can run on a day-to-day basis. This is why the FSB is calling for the introduction of a ‘Social Clause’ in all Government contracts.

“However, this clause must have teeth, and any business found to persistently breach the terms should be fined and be warned they may lose contracts in the future. This will give small businesses confidence and go far to change the poor record of behaviour on this issue.

“Late payment is not a new issue, but it has been a particular problem in the past year and it is more important than ever that this worrying practice is brought to an end.”

FSB News Release
PR 2010 02
 
Issue date: Wednesday 12 January 2010

FSB calls for major conference to better prepare the country for snow
Small businesses play a key role in tackling adverse weather

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) is calling the Government to hold a national conference to review its contingency planning after weeks of snow and icy weather brought the UK to a standstill.
Following weeks of bad weather which is estimated to have cost the UK economy at least £600m a day, with staff in some areas of the country unable to make it into work, the FSB wants to see discussion between local authorities, transport and salt mining companies, schools and the business community, among others, to find solutions to deal with adverse weather.
In a new policy paper on business continuity, entitled Let’s Keep Britain Moving, the FSB states that many small businesses were forced to close, lost business, or saw supplies dwindle because of the snow, with many roads left completely impassable. School closures also meant many parents had to stay at home to look after children, thereby missing further days at work.
The FSB argues the authorities did not learn from the lessons of last February’s snowfall quickly enough and could have prepared better for the recent spate of bad weather.
The FSB is calling for more support for the country’s 4.8m small businesses, which are among the hardest-hit by increasingly erratic weather conditions and other emergencies, because they find it harder to put contingency plans in place and are more vulnerable to road closures and transport disruption in remote rural areas.
The FSB recommends:
- The Government puts in place an emergency grant scheme for small firms severely affected by extreme weather – following the model of the FSB’s own ‘Flood Fund’ set up during recent flooding in Cumbria
- The Government produces mandatory guidance for local authorities, including salt level recommendations; and further increases its own private salt levels to supplement shortfalls where necessary
- The Government ensures the UK energy sector is better able to store gas for longer than the current maximum
- The Department for Children, Schools and Families, National Association of Head Teachers and Association of the Directors of Children’s Services work together to produce better guidance and criteria on closing schools, to prevent closures where possible.

John Wright, National Chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses, said:
“Small businesses have been particularly hard-hit during the recent bad weather, with staff unable to make it to work because of school closures and snow-bound roads. We need to be better prepared with more salt stocks for roads and better guidance for head teachers on when to close schools, to prevent staff from missing days of work and bringing the country – and the economy – to a standstill.
“Small businesses have shown how resilient and resourceful they are by trying to put in place plans for flexible working and by allowing staff to work from home. It is the small businesses that come to the aid of local communities in difficult times.
“However, following recent events, it is time we had a national civil contingencies conference, bringing together all relevant parties, and including the business perspective, on emergencies such as these. It is time the economy stopped coming to a halt during these emergencies, and we all pulled together to find ways to Keep Britain Moving.”

FSB News Release

PR 2010 01

Issue date: Monday 11 January 2010

FSB calls for default retirement age to be scrapped

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) supports the Government’s proposal to bring forward the review on the default retirement age and is calling on the Government to scrap the default retirement age.

New research by the FSB shows that 60 per cent of small businesses do not think the Government should set a default retirement age.

However, the FSB is urging for a provision in the law to protect employers that need to retire staff because of ill health, threatening their levels of performance.

John Wright, National Chairman at the Federation of Small Businesses, said:

“Many small business owners have no intention of putting in place a blanket policy to retire their staff at 65 – they understand the valuable contribution and skills that older workers bring to the business. In a recent survey by the Federation of Small Businesses, 60 per cent of respondents employ staff over 50 years old and a quarter employ staff who are over 65, showing that small firms are flexible employers.

“Nearly 80 per cent of small firms responding to our survey said they do not use the default retirement age for their staff and 76 per cent believe that retirement should be based on a mutual decision between the employee and employer.

“Two thirds said they did not think the Government should set a default retirement age and 90 per cent of small businesses would consider an employee going into part time or flexible working, rather than retiring.

“However, businesses need to be able to make decisions about their workforce without the threat of expensive tribunals from employees who are unable to work because of age-related issues. The ability to let someone go because of ill-health should be made sacrosanct for those employers.”