Main Menu
- Other links
- Sections
- About
This snapshot taken on 08/01/2008, shows web content selected for preservation by The National Archives. External links, forms and search boxes may not work in archived websites.
THE BUSINESS SUPPORT SIMPLIFICATION PROGRAMME UPDATE Number 2
AUGUST 2007
Welcome to the second BSSP Newsletter designed to keep you informed about what’s happening on the programme and more importantly let you know how you can get involved.
Our aim is to make sure business support funded by Government is simple for business to access, has a real impact on public policy goals and represents value for money.
If this is the first time you’ve heard about BSSP please click on the links under 'Sources of further information' section at the end of the Newsletter where you’ll find a link to the BSSP web page, introductory document and consultation document.
“The Departmental changes announced last month are intended to sharpen the focus of Government on the new and very different challenges that Britain will face in the years ahead and to ensure that we are equipped to seize the new opportunities of the changing global economy.
The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, has a clear focus to promote productivity, enterprise, competition, trade and better regulation – vital for a strong and strengthening British business sector.
I have also recently announced that the Small Business Service has been re-named as the Enterprise Directorate with a renewed focus on business growth. There are lots of definitions of enterprise but put simply, it is the creative capacity of individuals to generate new ideas and the innovative capacity of individuals and organisations to put those ideas into action.
Small businesses are crucial to business success. Small firms, including the self-employed, now account for over 99 per cent of all businesses: half of the UK’s economic turnover. There is absolutely no doubt about the importance of small business within Government and I am delighted to have taken over responsibility for this sector.
These changes are not just about what we do, but how we do it and this is why we're determined the way ahead is to simplify publicly funded business support so that there are fewer schemes out there and that the service offered meets businesses needs much better.
The consultation carried out over the summer gives you the opportunity to voice your thoughts and I'm grateful to those who have already made the effort to share views with us. I intend to say how we are acting on feedback from the consultation and what the next steps are, towards the end of this year. It's only by working together that we can develop a framework for business support that meets business needs more effectively than at present.
We will only succeed in delivering this through the collective efforts of partners at all levels. You have a vital role to play in helping us shape a simplified and more effective system of publicly-funded business support”
Please read the document and reply by email by Friday 14th September 07.
On 24 July, Minister for Competitiveness, Stephen Timms, met with a number of the CBI's SME members, including the SME Council, to discuss the government's proposals for the future of publicly-funded business support. CBI members found it a useful opportunity to raise their concerns about business support simplification directly with the Minister and those in the simplification team.
On 26 July CAN and the Social Enterprise Coalition hosted an event in London to gather views from social enterprises and support bodies on the government consultation, 'Simplifying Business Support'. Joe Dilger from BERR presented the business support proposals and responded to a variety of questions and key discussion points from the floor.Marketing & branding update
The programme is intending to commission marketing and branding specialists to work with us to take forward this work. We know that there is a great deal of interest in this aspect of the programme's work and we will be looking for a range of stakeholders to take part in workshops during the autumn. More information will follow in the next newsletter and in specific communications once the marketing consultants have been commissioned.
Find out the latest BSSP information, background material and dates for your diary by clicking on our web page:
See also the background document:
We hope that you’ll find the above information useful. In the meantime, please look out for the next update Newsletter, issued in late August.
(241KB)