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Budget must provide stability for growth says FSB

The Federation of Small Businesses believes that economic stability to give SMEs the confidence to grow should be the main message when the Chancellor delivers his Budget later this month.

Launching its Growth Manifesto at a speed briefing in Westminster, the FSB told MP’s that decisive action was needed to improve the growth prospects of small firms to avoid a jobless recovery.

According to the FSB, the UK’s five million small businesses are best placed to grow the economy and pick up the slack that will be left as the public sector cuts take their full effect, but they need to have a stable economic background in which to do this.

John Walker, national chairman, FSB, said: _“_The Budget must provideeconomic stability and look to ways to nurture entrepreneurship and allow small firms to grow in order to create employment opportunities.

“With the downgrading of GDP in Q4 2010, it is clear that the economy is in a precarious position and small firms that lack confidence in the business environment will find growth risky_.”_

The FSB is calling on the Government to extend the National Insurance holiday for one year to existing businesses with less than four members of staff that take on up to three additional employees.

In addition, they want the government to reverse plans to increase fuel duty from 1 April 2011 and introduce a fuel duty stabiliser to help to control inflation.

Furthermore they want the Government to tackle youth unemployment through apprenticeships and Graduate internship schemes, due to come to an end this month.

As well as declaring a moratorium on all new employment legislation for the 12 months following the Budget, to help create a more predictable regulatory environment to enable small firms to take on staff.

He added: “The Government does have policies available to show small firms it is serious about supporting growth, such as extending the National Insurance holiday to existing businesses that take on new staff and keeping to its manifesto promise and introducing a fuel duty stabiliser.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .