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Speech to the Federation of Small Businesses

The Rt. Hon. Alistair Darling MP,  Former Secretary of State for Trade and Industry
Millbank, London,  31 October 2006

In order to make the UK the best place in the world to start and grow a business, it is important that government works in partnership with business. Whether big or small.

That’s why we value the work done by the Federation of Small Businesses and congratulate you on reaching the milestone of 200,000 members.

Believe we already have a good partnership, which will continue to develop as we focus more sharply our support with small business through the Small Business Service.

Vital that we continually take stock of how we support business.

Under this Government there are now record numbers of businesses – 4.3 million of them.

There are 600,000 more businesses than in 1997 and employment in small and medium sized enterprises has risen by over a million.

There are a record number of British entrepreneurs – including, for the first time ever, more than a million self-employed women.

Together, their special contribution is driving change throughout the economy - new products, new processes, new ways of doing business, and new jobs.

Our small business sector continues to become more dynamic, and our business environment is now one of the best in the world for starting and growing a business.

The Government continues to support initiatives to encourage business growth, for example by helping small firms export to new markets like China.

We’ve come a long way. But we cannot rest on our laurels.

World economic players are changing. Globalisation brings challenges but also opportunities. And as the Stern Review published yesterday laid out, we have to ensure that good economic policy is also good environmental policy.

In this changing world, we must constantly re-evaluate how best Government can support and encourage enterprise.

As we do so, we should not lose sight of the successes the Small Business Service has driven within Government to help the business environment for small firms.

Such as the businesslink.gov.uk web site which had five and half million hits in the last year.

And the work we have done through Enterprise Insight on the ‘Mark Your Mark Campaign’ and the hugely successful Enterprise Week, stimulating interest in the young. Which attracted over four hundred thousand young people last year.

There are many others. These have been real specific achievements. But the Small Business Service has not been without its critics and we have to take steps to ensure it is fit for the challenge ahead.

The message that came through from the SBS Review - loud and clear -was that business wants an SBS that has greater clout within Government.

SBS needs to be able to focus. It must be more streamlined and concentrate on actions where it can make a significant and proven difference.

What does this mean in practice?

The Small Business Service will no longer be a deliverer of services – that is best done regionally and locally, closer to business customers.

However, on behalf of Ministers, it will retain, in-house, policy responsibility for the Government’s investments in business support – including Business Link, Enterprise Insight, and access to finance funds.

SBS will have sharper policy focus, on two key areas:

• Simplifying the business environment; and,
• Stimulating enterprise culture and business growth.

These developments will be supported by much closer links with organisations like the Federation of Small Businesses.

A leaner, more focused, SBS will make more of an impact across government – to punch above its weight.

A Small Business Service that is a smaller and more sharply focused within the DTI with close links with business and with other parts of Government, including in particular the Treasury and Regional Development Agencies.

The work to finalise how the Small Business Service will proceed is not over yet and these measures will be subject to further consideration.

I am confident that the newly focussed SBS will be a real driving force for enterprise in the future, influencing policy at the heart of Government on the big issues that matter most to business – regulation, skills, business support and finance.

I hope we can continue to work in partnership in the future. Your growing membership means you are ever better placed to do so.

Again, I congratulate the FSB on the membership milestone you celebrate this evening. And I look forward to working further with you in the future.