Gary's views

Gary's weekly views

Each week an article by Gary has appeared in the Plympton Plymstock and Ivybridge News in South West Devon. The articles are published here

SMALL BUSINESS

We have got the builders in at the moment making some minor adjustments to the inside of our house, coinciding with me being here all week for half term. I say the builders, but in fact it is a loose confederation of different self-employed people: plumbers, electricians, kitchen fitters and the like, all brought together in a rather elastic way. As usual, they are all doing several jobs in different locations at the same time. The favourite thing is to just pop out for a few bits at 11 am and you never see them again that day, leaving dust and chaos everywhere. But also as usual, they all want to talk politics and are quick to tell me what we are doing wrong at Westminster. It comes with the territory.

They want government to get off their backs and remove some of the absurd burdens of red tape that stifle enterprise. The plumber is obviously far too busy; his phone goes constantly – other customers shouting various versions of where are you? I suggest that he should employ an assistant or two and expand his business. His face contorts into a snarl; he did try it once, but he simply cannot cope with all of the bureaucracy that comes with employing somebody these days. Expletives deleted.

This is madness, but it is a message I receive from business people all over the constituency. The list of compliance regulation is long and growing: from complex VAT returns, statutory sick pay provisions, Health and Safety regulations, all the way through to burdensome contractual and legal requirements including our new friend paternity leave. Throw in a few Child Benefit Agency deductions, new Inland Revenue rules on self-employment, sprinkle on new vetting procedures and it all adds up to a cocktail of complexity that suffocates the entrepreneur. There are 3 million small businesses in this country, and they are the true lifeblood of our economy. We strangle them at out peril.

Most of these provisions are well intended and noble in their own right. We should pay people when they are sick. We don’t want cowboy builders or small boys up chimneys. But you can have too much of a good thing.

If we want the self-employed sector to thrive, we have to reduce the level of red tape and set them free again. We want them to employ young people and train them for the future.
Anyone seen my plumber?

posted by Nigel on Saturday, March 11, 2006