16/02/2011 by admin.

The FSB, the UK’s largest business organisation busts the myths that a fuel duty stabiliser is too complicated and expensive to put in place, in a new report published last month.

Critics have said that putting a fuel duty stabiliser in place – a mechanism to adjust fuel prices in order to alleviate the impact of oil price rise shocks on pump prices – is too complicated, expensive and bad for the environment.

However, in a new report ‘A fuel duty stabiliser – is it really that complicated?’, the FSB busts these myths and shows that it is simple, affordable and crucial to allow businesses to plan.

By basing the stabiliser on the oil price cycle, the level of fuel duty could be calculated against a trend price for oil. This would then be adjusted at regularly timed intervals following changes in the oil price cycle. So setting the level of the stabiliser would be straightforward: fuel duty would be X pence per litre minus a proportion of the difference between the current oil and trend oil price.

Introducing a fuel duty stabiliser would also provide greater certainty for businesses and families by stabilising the cost of fuel and allowing them to factor in fuel costs as they plan for the future. FSB research shows that the rise in fuel duty and uncertainty over fuel prices will have a significant impact on small businesses leading them to increase prices, freeze pay or even lay-off staff. The FSB is concerned that the cost of doing nothing to alleviate pressures of high fuel prices on small firms will vastly outweigh the cost of implementing a fuel duty stabiliser in the short-term.

The Government has said it is putting its faith in the private sector to lead the recovery, and the FSB believes that by introducing a fuel duty stabiliser, small firms will be able to effectively plan and grow their business.

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16/02/2011 by admin.

FSB Regional Chairman Roger House was interviewed by BBC Radio Kent and was for once almost lost for words when asked for comment on the Deputy PM’s request for better work life balance.

“Obviously we would all like more hours in the day, the FSB launched a campaign several years ago calling for a return of seven hours a week to business owners through reduced regulation” said Roger “Maybe he’s in the wrong job. What he needs to look at is Work Life Cost”.

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16/02/2011 by admin.

In a challenging economy, you have to be aware of potential markets. The public Sector are looking around to fulfill smaller contracts.

The Federation of Small Business has welcomed the Government’s commitment to overhaul the way that small businesses will be able to compete for public sector contracts, through cutting red tape and being more open and transparent.

Public sector procurement has long been an issue for small businesses, with 70 per cent of SMEs rarely bidding for public sector contracts due to a lack of awareness of the opportunities that are available and the red tape surrounding the application process.

For many small firms, access to public sector contracts comes through local government – with 27 per cent of FSB members supplying this sector. The FSB has long campaigned that local government is more transparent in the contracts that it has available, in the same way central government is, and the commitment to do this is a welcome step. 

Recent research into small firms’ access to public procurement markets across the EU places the UK 24th out of 27 member states, with only 24 per cent of contracts going to small firms, compared to 44 per cent in France.

Small and micro businesses do particularly badly in the UK, with only an estimated 11 per cent of the total value of contracts being awarded to businesses of that size. This is despite the fact that small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) account for 49 per cent of the UK’s turnover.

The FSB is pleased that the Government has recognised that these barriers exist and has committed to making the process simpler. The initiatives, such as the reform of the pre-qualification questionnaire (PQQ) process and more transparency through a new contracts website, as well as providing a dedicated voice for small firms’ views to be heard, will mean more small businesses having the potential to access work.

We have worked hard to ensure that small firms have the same access to public sector contracts as big businesses. The measures outlined, which look to remove red tape and open up more transparent channels of communication, are most welcomed.

These measures will now need to be accompanied by a genuine cultural change within Government procurement in terms of its approach to dealing with small businesses. 

Removing the need to fill in a PQQ for smaller contracts is a bold move but it is vital that something more bureaucratic or confusing does not emerge in its place. We hope the promise of a dedicated voice for small suppliers within Government will help to prevent this.

The good thing is that the Government is going to publish figures on the amount of contracts going to SME’s so we will be able to measure its success and hold the Government to account if it is not working.  That type of measurement and transparency is something we’d like to see adopted more widely across the public sector.

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