Government pledges to back self-employed and review regulation

In a recent speech the Prime Minister called for Ministers to devise policies to back the country's self-employed. He added that they are "a vital part of the economy and need to increase in number."

The Prime Minister stressed that the Government had to listen to the concerns of the self-employed, but has attracted criticism from many self-employed groups, including IT contractors, who believe that they are treated with suspicion by Government departments such as the Department of Trade and Industry and the Inland Revenue.

Senior DTI and DfEE Ministers have responded by announcing that they are launching a fresh industrial strategy for the Government's second term including unprecedented powers for regulators to review new and existing business regulations.

At the same time a White Paper on Competitiveness has been announced, setting out a new policy comprising 24 recommendations for changing regulations that appeared to inhibit competition. David Heathcoat-Amory, opposition Conservative Trade and Industry spokesman, said the announcement illustrated another knee-jerk reaction by the Government following complaints from business.

"They have spent four years with endless extra business regulations. Now they are in the dying days of this parliament and they are going to do something about it. It's far too late," he said.

The Prime Minister's raising of the self-employed and small businesses issue comes after the PCG sent a formal letter to Tony Blair asking him to intervene personally to stop the damage that IR35 is doing to tens of thousands of small businesses in the cutting-edge knowledge-based sector.

Gareth Williams, PCG Chairman, said "It is ironic that the Government is saying that they should support small businesses when we are fighting measures devised by them that do exactly the opposite in the European Court."

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Richard Powell, UKTECH