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The Government is running three pilots between September 2009 and April 2011. These will test whether offering small and medium sized businesses (“SMEs”) access to tailored, insured advice will help them understand and comply with employment and health and safety law.
The pilots are examining the barriers to businesses taking up insured advice and testing different marketing strategies. The advice is being provided by private sector insured advice providers. Each one will take place in a different region of the United Kingdom. The three pilots, explained below, are the ‘Control’ Pilot, the ‘No Wrong Door’ Pilot and the ‘Open Market Campaign’ Pilot.
In parallel with this piloting strategy, BIS, HMRC, Acas and HSE have established a working group to agree options for addressing the Anderson Review recommendations on improvements to HMRC's Business Advice Open Days - which will be rolled-out from 2010 - and on proposals for a voucher system for Acas training for first-time employers.
‘Control’ Pilot – October to November 2009
The ‘Control’ Pilot began in October 2009 in the East Midlands. The aim of the ‘Control’ Pilot is to test whether greater awareness of insured advice encourages more businesses to utilise it. SMEs in the East Midlands were sent direct marketing inviting them to visit the a website which listed the 25 insured advice providers who asked to participate in the pilot and demonstrated they provided the type of advice that the Anderson review recommended. This pilot is now closed, and the results were used to shape the ‘No Wrong Door’ and ‘Open Market Campaign’ pilots.
‘No Wrong Door’ Pilot – January 2010 to September 2010
In the 'No Wrong Door' pilot, up to 4,500 SMEs in the North West region are offered a free trial of tailored, insured advice on employment and health and safety regulation, which they will access by calling either Acas, HSE Infoline or Business Link North West. The insured advice will be provided by two providers, the Forum for Private Business and Peninsula Business Services, which were selected by BIS following an open competition in October 2009.
‘Open Market Campaign’ Pilot – January 2010 to September 2010
In the 'Open Market Campaign' Pilot, up to 4,500 SMEs in the Yorkshire region are offered a £50 discount to use on a selection of insured advice products from 13 insured advice providers listed on the Business Link Yorkshire & Humber website at www.businesslinkyorkshire.co.uk/insuredadvice. These providers were selected by BIS following an open competition.
Results from the pilots will be used to determine the best way of carrying this Anderson review recommendation forward.
If you have any queries relating to the Pilots please contact Maria Booker on maria.booker@bis.gsi.gov.uk or 020 7215 6159.
