FPB campaigns update - June 2009

9 June 2009

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Our Campaigns team has been working hard at raising issues surrounding access to finance, late payment and the cost of utilities over the past month.

Members can let us know about their experiences of the cost of complying with regulations by completing our Referendum 188 ballot form by Wednesday, 10 June.

Access to Finance

Phil Orford, the FPB's Chief Executive, provided evidence to a Committee of MPs about the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) Scheme on Tuesday, 2 June 2009. Some of the issues he raised with the scheme were the requirement of providing personal guarantees and the communication problems relating to availability and eligibility of funding. The Select Committee hearing is available to watch online. For further information on how to access the EFG scheme click here.

We are maintaining pressure on the Government's Small Business Finance Forum to monitor banks' lending to our members and to call for action to be taken. Our latest Economic Downturn Panel results from May showed that the cost of finance is creating problems for our members.

Following lobbying from the FPB, the Government has today (Tuesday, 9 June) announced that it has increased the scope of the trade credit insurance top-up scheme announced in April as part of the 2009 Budget. Businesses which have had their credit insurance withdrawn from 1 October 2008 will now be able to apply for the scheme. Click here for further details.

Cost of business

We continue to campaign against the practise of companies delaying payments and have entered three more businesses into our late payment ‘Hall of Shame'. We have called on FTSE 100 companies to sign the Government's Prompt Payment Code in order to set an example and commit to paying their suppliers on time and 15 have since agreed to sign.

Following lobbying from the FPB over the past year the regulator of the energy sector, Ofgem, has put forward proposals to end the practise of energy companies tying businesses into roll-over contracts. We submitted our views to a consultation and are pushing for further protection for small firms.

Improving economic activity

Referendum 188 focuses on the cost of complying with regulations. If you are a member of the FPB, you still have time to complete your ballot form online, but must do so by Wednesday, 10 June. We will be using this information to shape our campaign on reducing the regulatory burden in order to improve economic activity.

Protecting employment

We are lobbying for the UK to retain its opt-out of the Working Time Directive, which restricts the number of hours per week an employee can work. We are also campaigning for a simplification of employment legislation and are working to ensure that the Equality Bill does not create unnecessary burdens for small companies.

Contact the campaigns team

As always, if you have an issue affecting your business, then we want to hear from you. Contact our campaigns team on 01565 634467 or at campaigns@fpb.org.

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FPB campaigns update - June 2009

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