Mark Prisk MP: How this Government is boosting one of the great Thatcher policies - the Right to Buy

Mark Prisk MP is Minister for Housing.  Follow Mark on Twitter.

In the 80s, under Right to Buy, Magaret Thatcher helped millions of people living in council housing achieve their aspiration of owning a home - and I'm proud to be continuing that work today. However, it has not been easy. The Labour Party has continually shown that they are not on the side of aspiration, or of those who want to work hard and get on. When in power, they made a succession of cuts to Right to Buy, slashing the level of discounts and eligibility criteria for council housing tenants. They also failed to increase those discounts to reflect rising property prices, and as a result this vital rung on the property ladder was all but removed.

Fast forward to today - when the latest figures show that in the last year sales under the Right to Buy scheme have more than doubled to 5,942: the highest level for six years. And this hasn't happened accidentally. Unlike Labour, we've been determined to make it easier for those who've paid their rent and now want to buy their own home to do so.

Our reason for doing this? Because, as Conservatives, we don't believe that home ownership should be just for some: we want many to achieve that dream, and the Right to Buy allows people to do just that. It gives something back to the families who've worked hard and played by the rules, and that's why I'm so passionate about it. It allows people to make changes to their home without getting permission from the council, and to enjoy the independence which goes with that. The benefits of this extend far beyond four walls, giving people a sense of pride and ownership not just in their home, but in their street and neighbourhood, helping to build strong families and stable mixed communities.

Mark Prisk MP: Ours is the largest deregulatory package of any Government in my lifetime

Mark Prisk MP is Minister for Business and Enterprise.

As someone who’s actually run a business, I know how much unnecessary bureaucracy and red tape can stifle enterprise and innovation. Under the last Labour Government, we saw the equivalent of six new regulations every working day, totalling over 1,500 a year. So the task on entering Government was not to just focus on a few high profile measures, but to take a root and branch approach to new, existing and EU regulations.
So what's happened so far?

First we have capped the cost of new regulations coming onto the statute book. The principle we are using is 'one in, one out'. If a Minister wishes to introduce a regulation, which costs business they have to remove the equivalent cost by removing regulations elsewhere. It’s forcing all Ministers to rethink their plans and to look for alternatives to simply passing laws.

Second, we have trawled over 1,500 existing regulations, as part of the Red Tape Challenge. This is a comprehensive and thorough economic analysis, by businesses for businesses, of the no fewer than 21,000 regulations on the statute book, of which some 11,000 directly affect enterprises. Over 227,000 visitors to the website have made 28,800 comments and sent in over 950 private email submissions, suggesting which regulations should be scrapped, improved or kept.

Mark Prisk MP: Businesses will save billions of pounds because of our war on red tape

Mark Prisk is the Minister of State for Business and Enterprise.

Every government wants to leave its mark on the statute book. The last government did so by introducing the equivalent of six new regulations every working day, or 30 every single week.  This government will do so by reducing the regulatory burden that weighs on all firms, but disproportionately on micro, small and medium-sized enterprises.

Labour’s legacy was a business community suffocated by rules, many of them contradictory or redundant. When it did cut red tape, it did so lengthwise. That approach had to change whatever the economic environment and today’s push for growth makes deregulation urgent. This government is more committed to the supply-side reforms that make life easier for business than any before it. To achieve this, the Government has launched two key initiatives.  Firstly, the one-in-one-out rule places a cap on the financial burden of regulations to businesses by ensuring that the cost of any new UK-based regulation is offset with a commensurate reduction in existing regulation.  The net saving to businesses for 2011 is estimated by the Business Department at £3.2bn. 

Qualitative improvements to other regulations will also spur growth. Some, for example, help drive the development of a low-carbon economy by easing planning restrictions on the development of electric vehicle charging points, domestic wind turbines and heat pumps. Others are aimed at businesses with fewer than 250 employees, such as withdrawing the right to request time to train. The other key policy is the Red Tape Challenge. Whereas the one-in-one-out rule stems the flow of new regulations onto the statute book, the RTC tackles the existing stock of red tape. This is an enormous undertaking, involving a comprehensive and thorough economic analysis of the no fewer than 21,000 regulations on the statute book, of which some 11,000 directly affect businesses.

Mark Prisk MP: How the Government is cutting regulation and freeing our small firms to thrive

Mark Prisk is Minister of State for Business and Enterprise.

In recent months, people have rightly been asking what progress we have made freeing enterprise from red tape and bureaucracy, so I wanted to update ConservativeHome readers on what we have achieved since the start of the year.

The ‘One In, One Out’ system of regulatory control is designed to change the culture of over-regulation in Whitehall – and it’s in place and working right now. All Ministers are required to identify reductions in regulatory costs to business (‘outs’) if they wish to introduce new regulations that have a cost to business (‘ins’). Twice a year, we will issue a statement summarising these ‘ins’ and ‘outs’.

The first statement, for January to June of this year, cut the number of regulations planned from 157 to 46, with just 11 of these adding to the regulatory cost faced by firms. The other 35 were either zero cost or have costs now matched by savings found from within their sponsoring department. Measured by value, the results are even better: a net saving of £3.2 billion for British firms.

Mark Prisk MP: How the Coalition Government will help small businesses to thrive and grow

Mark Prisk is MP for Hertford and Stortford and Minister of State for Business and Enterprise. Here he sets out the Government’s plans for the future of support for small and medium-sized businesses.

Small businesses are vital to the UK economy and to economic recovery. The Coalition Government is working to create the right long-term environment for new and established business to grow and thrive – with lower and simpler business taxes, less regulation and fewer regulators, greater access to finance, and reformed public procurement.

But government also has a more direct role ensuring that start ups and existing small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) alike can access the information they need to develop their business. Over the years government has been very active in this area, but its efforts have received a very mixed response from business and market and technological changes mean the system needs radical reform.

The principles of this reform are to modernise the provision of information by creating an interactive online facility, tailored to each business’s needs; to simplify and speed up the process of starting a business; to focus government resources on fast growing businesses, rather than providing generalised support for all; and to recognise that the advice businesses most value comes from those with real business experience.

What does this mean in practice?

Mark Prisk MP: Lifting the rates burden for small business

Mark Prisk is MP for Hertford and Stortford and a shadow minister for business and enterprise. Here he explains how making business rate relief automatic for eligible small businesses in England would help thousands of small firms.

Business rates are universally unpopular with firms. They are often the third most significant overhead, and are fixed, regardless of how well or badly a business is doing. So in a recession, business rates can help push a firm over the edge.

Small businesses feel the pinch most. And as many point out to me, they get nothing in return for their rates, not even their bins emptied.

That’s why I have been campaigning to help small business get relief from the burden of rates. Last year we dedicated a section of the party's website to helping small firms claim up to £1,100 relief.

Amazingly, half of the eligible firms weren’t claiming this relief. Why? Well most businesses I spoke to told me that they either didn’t know it existed, or had found the red tape too much.

Mark Prisk MP: The construction industry needs action not words

Mark Prisk is MP for Hertford and Stortford and the shadow minister for construction in the Conservative frontbench Business and Enterprise team.

The construction sector has been a mainstay of the UK economy in recent years, representing 9% of GDP and by 2007 employing roughly two million people. Yet in the last twelve months that building boom has turned to bust.

For example, the Construction Skills Network has just predicted a further 3% contraction in the number of jobs for this year, with no improvement expected in 2010. Indeed, the Federation of Master Builders is predicting that 52% of builders will be making staff redundant over the coming months. So, what the industry needs is action.

Back in the November Pre-Budget Report, the Government announced that it would bring forward £3 billion worth of capital spending from the 2010-2011 budget. Yet within weeks, the construction trade press reported that nearly £1.7 billion of the Government’s health and education projects had actually been halted. Now it’s clear that many current PFI schemes simply won’t proceed. So there’s a serious gap between Ministers’ words and their actions.

Mark Prisk MP: Conservatives backing small business

Mark Prisk is the Shadow Minister for Business & Enterprise. Over the last week, Mark has been busy meeting with business groups and small shop owners. Below he reviews his week and talks about the package of measures Conservatives announced to help small businesses survive.

On Monday, at our Small Business Survival Summit the message from business was very clear. Whilst the impact differs between business sectors, the outlook is severe and the threat imminent. Collapsing confidence, rising costs and shrinking credit are squeezing the life out businesses, especially in the south east. Where the boom was the greatest, so the bust may prove to be the worst.

That evening, I met Asian businesses, this time in East Ham. It was lashing with rain outside but the turnout was strong. Again, the message was loud and clear: businesses are feeling the pain and need elbow room to survive these difficult times. 

This is why Conservatives this week, launched a package of measures to specifically give small businesses immediate help. They include:   

Cutting small company taxes

We are committed to cutting small company corporation taxes from 22p to 20p, which is costing small companies an extra £370 million this year. Labour are wrong to increase their taxes, especially at this time.

Mark Prisk MP: Reflections from the Valley

Over the last week Mark Prisk MP, Shadow Minister for Business & Enterprise, has been in Silicon Valley CA, supporting a collaborative business mission for twenty UK web 2.0 entrepreneurs. Web Mission was organised by social entrepreneur Oli Barrett, and consultants Polecat and TechCrunch. Here Mark offers his reflections on some of the policy issues which have arisen from his trip.

The conventional view from Britain of the US economy is universally gloomy. So I am pleased to spread a little happiness from here in Silicon Valley.

Seen from here, there are good reasons to be cheerful. For whilst no-one doubts the troubles in housing and finance - have you seen the sub-prime numbers in California? – I’ve also heard some good, countervailing arguments for thinking positive.

First, technological innovation offers the prospect of real savings for companies, large and small. That means more business for the tech sector and key players like Oracle.

Second, the soaring price of fuel means that investment in, and the development of, environmental technologies will accelerate. At least two of the venture capitalists I have met this week spoke glowingly about recent ventures, which they fully admit they would never have touched just two years ago. Watch this space for a soon to be announced battery-powered car to take on the motor giants in Detroit.

Mark Prisk MP: Why stalemate at home may encourage Merkel abroad

Mark Prisk MP, Shadow Minister for Business and Enterprise, reflects on the future foreign policy of Germany following his recent meetings with the Christian Democrats.

Earlier this month I visited Berlin to meet CSU MPs and Ministers. I travelled with Alistair Burt MP, and together we had several productive meetings on economic development and urban regeneration. We were made most welcome and I was strongly reminded that we have good political bedfellows in our CDU/CSU colleagues.

Politically, Berlin is beginning a new chapter. Since 2005, the Government has been a 'Grand Coalition' of the CDU/CSU parties and the left of centre SPD. When the election gave them 226 and 222 seats respectively and neither could do a deal with the minor parties, they were forced to turn to each other.

The result was a 143-page coalition agreement which sets out an agenda on everything from health care reform to labour market changes, from tax increases and spending cuts, all designed to help turn the once-mighty German economy around.

Mark Prisk MP: More Labour failure of small businesses

Mark Prisk MP is Shadow Minister for Business and Enterprise writing on the Interim Report of the Small Business Task Force.  The full report can be found here.

There are wide variances in local economies.  Labour has set up Regional Development Agencies to tackle this, but their performance has been called in to question.  That’s why the Small Business Task Force decided to look carefully at the RDAs to establish whether they are working.  The result was not encouraging. 

In every region there are a least six delivery organisations running independent schemes ranging from local authorities to the Regional Development Agencies (RDAs).  A survey by the Federation of Small Business reported a combination of low awareness levels and confusion about Government initiatives.  Over a quarter of businesses were not aware of the major small business support schemes available to them, and a further 15% were aware of them but found them confusing.  In direct contrast, the satisfaction rates for private sector advisers such as accountants reveal that 57% were satisfied compared with 9% of those using Government support services. 

To assess individual performance, the Task Force used the Freedom of Information Act to ask each of the nine RDAs to provide all documents evaluating the effectiveness of schemes operated by them.  The quality of responses varied.

In some cases, for example the Southwest RDA, it was clear which of its schemes had been evaluated, and which had not.  At the other end of the scale, the Northwest RDA wrote to the Task Force in late November 2006 and said that it could provide no analysis of the effectiveness of any of the 21 schemes it operated in 2005-06. 

Mark Prisk MP: Has state support for business bought any gains?

Mark Prisk MP is Shadow Minister for Business and Enterprise.  He is writing after the publication of the Interim Report of the Small Business Task Force.  The Final Report will be published in May.

The level of direct Government support for small business has mushroomed more than five-fold between the early 1980s and the present day.  The expansion has made business support a booming sector in its own right.  However, despite the huge injection of time and money, it is far from clear whether business has benefited. This lack of clarity led me to ask serial entrepreneur, and former Dragons Den panellist, Doug Richard to chair a Task Force investigating the state of business support.

The Task Force’s starting point was to try to build up a coherent picture of existing provision. The sheer complexity of the sector meant this was not a straightforward task.  As a result of ad hoc growth in support schemes, small businesses are overrun by a system of 3,000 schemes run by 2,000 bodies.  The Government has proposed to cut back the number, however, to date has failed to set out a rationale for doing so.   

The number of schemes is dwarfed by the sums of money involved.  A 2004 DTI-backed study, which was based on heavy extrapolation, found that in 2003-04 the Government had set aside £10.3 billion per year for small business support.   But, through in-depth research covering the devolved administrations of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales, local authorities’ spending, and updated the figures to reflect policy and budget changes, the Task Force was able to conclude that the total expenditure is in fact now estimated at over £12 billion.  To put that into context, it accounts for just over 2 per cent of all Government expenditure. 

Mark Prisk MP: Hong Kong Rising

Mark Prisk MP, Shadow Minister for Business and Enterprise, is in Hong Kong with the UK All Party Parliamentary China Group.  As the 10th anniversary of its handover from British rule looms, how has Hong’s economy faired and what are its prospects?

Since 1997, the economy of Hong Kong has had to weather considerable turbulence.  A deep recession, deflation, and a 70% fall in property values combined with the SARS crisis left a deep sense of gloom about the very future of this bustling city.  And yet, as I visit Hong Kong this week, it’s clear that the economy has bounced back. 

After enjoying 8% growth in 2004, with impressive levels continuing last year and this year, property values have been restored and unemployment has fallen below 8%.  There’s a real sense of optimism again.

Of course, many people will say that the boom on mainland China has been crucial to this turnaround.  And they would be right.  Yet there is a fascinating paradox at the heart of Hong Kong’s success: this is the freest economy in the world, despite being part of a communist-led nation.