Small businesses

This page highlights some of the current parliamentary material available on small businesses. This includes select committee reports, briefing papers on current legislation and other subjects produced by the parliamentary research services, and the latest Early Day Motions put down by MPs.

Standard Notes

Date	Description
04.01.2013	Business statistics
	This note includes information on the number of businesses since 2001, small businesses, business by region, businesses by industry business births and deaths and information on female representation in business. It also features some discussion of the sources of business statistics and their coverage.
19.12.2012	Small businesses and the UK economy
	This note presents a statistical analysis of small businesses in the UK and information on small businesses government policy.
23.11.2012	Businesses by constituency
	This note provides some key statistics on businesses by parliamentary constituency. It includes a full constituency list showing the change between 2010 and 2012 and information on on businesses by industrial sector.
23.11.2012	New Enterprise Allowance
	The New Enterprise Allowance is a government scheme designed to help unemployed people who want to start their own business.
17.09.2012	VAT Registration
	All businesses must register for VAT if their turnover of taxable goods and/or services is above a given threshold. This note discusses how the registration threshold has been set in recent years and the debate there has been about whether the threshold is too high or too low.

Research Papers

Date	Description
03.03.2009	Small Business Rate Relief (Automatic Payment) Bill (Bill 13 of 2008-09)
	The purpose of this Bill is to make the payment of rate relief for small businesses in England automatic. Currently, businesses have to apply to their billing authority once within each revaluation period (five years) to receive the relief during this period.
25.11.2008	Small Business, Insolvency and Redundancy
	HC Research Paper 08/87 Small Business, Insolvency and Redundancy
08.07.2008	Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Bill [HL] Committee Stage Report
16.05.2008	Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Bill [HL] 2007-08
	Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Bill (HL) 2007-08. (Bill 103 of 2007-08). House of Commons Library Research Paper 08/46.
28.06.2004	Small firms: Red Tape
	Small firms: red tape. House of Commons Research Paper 04/52.

Select Committee Reports

Date	Description
15.02.2011	The new local enterprise partnerships.
	Government response. Department for Business, Innovation and Skills; Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee report [Commons]
19.11.2010	The new local enterprise partnerships.
	Business, Innovation and Skills Select Committee report [Commons]
30.03.2010	Market Failure?
	Communities and Local Government Select Committee report [Commons]
01.03.2010	The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills: Venture capital support to small businesses.
	Public Accounts Committee report [Commons]
12.10.2009	Market failure?: can the traditional market survive? Government response to the Communities and Local...
	Government response. Communities and Local Government report [Commons]

Early Day Motions

Date	Description
01.03.2011	JOB CREATION IN SMALL BUSINESS
	That this House remains concerned at the high level of unemployment, currently at 2.5 million; notes research from the Federation of Small Businesses which shows that 44 per cent. of ...
01.03.2011	EXPORTS AND GROWTH
	That this House recognises that the Government has hailed exporting as a potential driver for economic growth; further recognises that exporting offers huge potential for small businesses ...
01.03.2011	ACCESS TO FINANCE FOR SMALL BUSINESSES
	That this House expresses concern at recent findings from the Federation of Small Businesses that show around 84 per cent. of small businesses are not approaching the banks for credit ...
01.03.2011	KEEP TRADE LOCAL CAMPAIGN
	That this House recognises that small businesses are not just part of the local community, but are the local community; further recognises that the UK economy is driven by small businesses; ...
01.03.2011	TOURISM AND SMALL BUSINESSES
	That this House recognises that the UK's tourism industry contributed over 115 billion to the UK economy in 2009; notes that the Federation of Small Businesses has recently released ...

Lords Library Notes

Date	Description
19.04.2012	Sunday Trading (London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games) Bill [HL] (HL Bill 139 of 2010-12)
	This Library Note provides background information on the Sunday Trading (London Olympic and Paralympic Games) Bill due to have its second reading in the House of Lords on 24 April 2012.