June Update from the Business & Enterprise Team
15-06-2007
Your update from
the Business & Enterprise Team
June 2007, Issue Number: 22
Open Quote,
Do you drive to work? Do you want to reduce your carbon footprint? Transport for London are to help small and medium sized businesses across the Capital establish ‘workplace travel plans’, which encourage more sustainable ways of travelling to and from work. See page 4 for details.
Sital Nana
(Editor)
Tel: 020 7217 3223
E-mail: enquiries-businessandenterprise@gol.gsi.gov.uk
HSE to remove 4000 ‘dodgy’ ladders through a ‘ladder exchange’ | 2 |
Government cracking down on unfair selling | 2 |
New Equalities Legislation comes into force | 3 |
Dads set to benefit from additional paternity leave and pay | 3 |
New process takes effect to thwart VAT fraud | 3 |
TfL to help businesses reduce their employee’s Car Use | 4 |
Almost 60,000 more businesses now eligible for simpler VAT | 4 |
Employers face minimum wage fines | 4 |
Rate reform boost for small businesses and town centres | 5 |
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6 |
The Business and Enterprise Team’s role is to provide flexibility in supporting central government policies as well as being the conduit for ensuring the concerns of the business and enterprise communities connect with the relevant policy units within central government.
General Information
HSE to remove 4000 ‘dodgy’ ladders through a ‘ladder exchange’
HSE to remove 4000 dodgy ladders through a ladder exchange. Every month nearly 100 people fall off a ladder at work and suffer serious injuries costing the economy £60 million each year. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) will promote ladder safety messages through a ‘ladder exchange’ which aims to remove 4000 ‘dodgy’ ladders from workplaces in
Over the next 12 weeks, small businesses will get the chance to get their ladders checked and where necessary, trade them in for new ones at a discounted price. HSE is working in close association with Local Authorities, ladder manufacturers and retailers to address the safety issues around access equipment with employers and ladder users.
For further information please see – www.hse.gov.uk/falls/ladderexchange.htm
Government cracking down on unfair selling
Government cracking down on unfair selling
Millions of people are set to benefit from a government crack down on aggressive and unfair trading and selling practices.
The new law will protect consumers by outlawing a host of deceptive and intimidating sales practices that are unfair but not currently illegal. It will also benefit honest businesses, by simplifying consumer protection legislation and clamping down on rogue traders.
Among the 31 types of unfair practices it will outlaw are:
* prize draw scams, such as those that con people into calling premium-rate phone numbers;
* bogus ‘closing down’ sales;
* refusing to leave a customer’s home when asked to do so;
* making persistent and unwanted telephone calls encouraging consumers to buy products such as double glazing; and
* preying on elderly peoples’ fears about their personal security to sell them burglar alarms
The new law will dramatically improve consumer protection and will establish a safety net to catch unfair practices that fall between existing rules.
- The DTI is seeking views on draft regulations before they become
UK - Both consultations will close on 21 August.
* The consultation on the regulations can be found at: www.gnn.gov.uk/environment/dti
* The consultation on the guidance can be found at: www.oft.gov.uk/advice_and_resources/resource_base/consultations/ucpd
New Equalities Legislation comes into force
New legislation came into force last week which provides protection from sexual orientation discrimination and discrimination on the grounds of religion or belief that is on a par with protection already provided on grounds of race and gender.
For further information please see –
www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1002882&PressNoticeID=2415
Dads set to benefit from additional paternity leave and pay
Dads Set to Benefit from Additional Paternity Leave and Pay
New paternity leave proposals are being developed by the Government designed to give working parents more choice in their caring responsibilities.
“This consultation seeks views on how the administration of additional paternity leave and pay will work in practice. The Government wants to keep the process as straightforward as possible for both employees and their employers.”
The consultation sets out proposals on the administration that will give fathers the opportunity to choose to take up to 26 weeks Additional Paternity Leave to care for their child if certain conditions are met, including the mother returning to work.
In particular, the Government will be seeking feedback on the following:
* Whether the father and mother should be able to self-certify themselves as eligible for the scheme. This would keep the process straightforward for businesses.
* How the scheme will work best in practice, and whether checklists and new official forms would provide employers with the confidence to administer the scheme effectively and employees to participate in it.
For further information please see –
www.dti.gov.uk/employment/workandfamilies/add-paternity-leave/index.html
Business
New process takes effect to thwart VAT fraud
New process takes effect to thwart VAT fraud
A new way of accounting for VAT took effect from 1 June which changes the way VAT is paid on mobile telephones and computer chips, in a measure designed to combat fraud in these goods.
VAT-registered customers of these goods will be required to pay the VAT on the sale to HMRC, as opposed to the supplier – which is the norm in most transactions. The move is designed to help combat what is known as MTIC (Missing Trader Intra-Community) fraud – also known as carousel fraud.
This accounting scheme is known as the “reverse charge”, and it removes the mechanism by which fraudsters steal VAT when trading in certain types of goods.
For further information please see – www.hmrc.gov.uk
TfL to help businesses reduce their employee’s Car Use
A new scheme to encourage businesses to help their staff leave their cars at home, save money, and reduce their impact on the environment, has been launched by Transport for
‘Enterprise’ has been set up by TfL to help small and medium sized businesses across the Capital establish ‘workplace travel plans’, which encourage more sustainable ways of travelling to and from work, and help to tackle global warming through reducing the levels of emissions produced by car use.
For further information please see –
www.tfl.gov.uk/corporate/media/newscentre/5164.aspx
Almost 60,000 more businesses now eligible for simpler VAT
Almost 60,000 more businesses now eligible for simpler VAT
Changes to the Cash Accounting Scheme (CAS) mean businesses that may be eligible for the scheme depending on the size of their turnover will be able to manage their cashflow better. The turnover threshold for eligibility for the CAS has increased from £660,000 to £1.35 million.
The Scheme allows businesses with turnover of less than £1.35 million to defer paying their quarterly VAT, until they have received payment from their customers. Normally, firms must pay their quarterly return based on invoices issued and received – as opposed to money received and paid out.
Two other VAT simplification schemes are also available: the Annual Accounting Scheme – enabling small businesses to pay their VAT in monthly or quarterly installments – and the Flat Rate Scheme, which allows businesses to apply a flat rate percentage to their annual turnover.
For further information please see – www.hmrc.gov.uk
Employers face minimum wage fines
Employers face minimum wage fines
The Government is to target employers with a new regime of fines if they pay below the national minimum wage.It is also proposed that for the first time businesses would have to pay interest or other cash to workers they have underpaid on top of repaying arrears, so the workforce are no longer giving “interest free loans” to their employers.
The minimum wage was introduced in April 1999. It is currently £5.35 ph and rises to £5.52 in October.
* A typical penalty for underpaying a single worker is now more than £200.
* Employers who fail to pay the minimum wage can face prosecution, risking a criminal record and a £5,000 fine.
For further information please see – www.dti.gov.uk/files/file36381.pdf
Rate reform boost for small businesses and town centres
Rate reform boost for small businesses and town centres
New legislation published aimed at encouraging empty shops, offices, factory and warehouse buildings back into commercial use as part of a package to create thriving urban centres, renovate empty buildings and promote greater use of brownfield land.
The new measures modernise business rate relief for empty properties and, together with a newly introduced allowance to support the renovation of empty business premises in the most deprived communities and proposals to extend tax relief’s on brownfield sites, will better incentivise the re-use, redevelopment or sale of empty commercial property.
Businesses that rent premises will particularly benefit from the changes, which will increase the availability of premises, thereby reducing rents and increasing the
At present, most empty commercial property receives a 100% relief from taxation for the first three months, and 50% thereafter; and empty warehouses and factories receive a permanent exemption from rates.
From next April 2008, the relief will be modernised. Empty commercial property will be liable for the full business rate after an initial rate-free period of three months, or six months for factories and warehouses.
For further information please see – www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1510380
DTI’s national ‘Enterprise Week ‘ will be on 12-18th November 2007, and is again to be co-ordinated by Enterprise Insight. To order your free Action Pack please email info@enterpriseinsight.co.uk .
The Government Office for
Comments
We welcome feedback on the Bulletin and items that have included. If you wish to make any other comments or suggestions for future editions, please do not hesitate to contact us at: enquiries.gol@go-regions.gov.uk . You can also call Sital Nana on 020 7217 3223.
Useful links Department of Trade & Industry – www.dti.gov.uk . Department of Communities & Local Government – www.communities.gov.uk/ London Development Agency (LDA) – www.lda.gov.uk . Business Link for Social Enterprise London promote community, best practice, advocacy & development – working directly with individuals, organisations and regional government to help them realise their vision in the social enterprise sector – www.sel.org.uk Capital Enterprise (CE) is a not-for-profit membership organisation which exists to help businesses start-up and grow through its membership of enterprise support organisations across The The Small Business Service (SBS) is an executive agency of the Department of Trade and Industry – www.sbs.gov.uk . ACAS aims to improve organisations and working life through better employment relations. We provide up-to-date information, independent advice, high quality training and work with employers and employees to solve problems and improve performance – www.acas.org.uk . |
Government Offices represent the interests of 10 Central Government Departments, including the Department of Trade and Industry, Department for Education and Skills and Department for Culture, Media and Sport in the English regions. They support the Departments’ aims of improving economic performance, skills, productivity and innovation by influencing the priorities set by Government and regional partners for the regional economic development, and assisting their effective delivery. In the
