from Nick Hammond, Londis retailer, St Agnes, Cornwall
Sir; What a load of propaganda rubbish from Jacqui Smith, minister for trade & industry, in The Saturday Essay (April 16, p34). Despite her claims to the contrary, the simple fact is that very little has been done in the past eight years to improve conditions for small retail businesses. Paperwork and bureaucracy have increased and we are at present wading through the new licensing laws. This is not only extra work but extra money we have to find.
The minimum wage has been raised several times, as an appeasement to the unions, in fits and starts and not as proper indexations. A far better way to help the lower paid would be to raise the lower tax threshold substantially, which would also cut down on the paperwork.
Staff are more difficult to engage now because of the various tax credits which make it less attractive to work. You only have to go to any town or city to observe all the 'staff vacancy' notices in the windows.
Stakeholder pensions have been another burden. The staff we employ are mostly students and more mature people. None of these are the slightest bit interested in pensions - but we were threatened with fines if they were not instigated.
A loss of income has arisen from the fall in sales of cigarettes due to smuggling and the government appears powerless to stop trafficking, while ID cards would have been a benefit to us in controlling underage drinking and smoking.
Meanwhile, capital gains tax looms large and inheritance tax thresholds have not increased in line with property prices.
So, I cannot think of anything the government has done that has helped business.
Sir; What a load of propaganda rubbish from Jacqui Smith, minister for trade & industry, in The Saturday Essay (April 16, p34). Despite her claims to the contrary, the simple fact is that very little has been done in the past eight years to improve conditions for small retail businesses. Paperwork and bureaucracy have increased and we are at present wading through the new licensing laws. This is not only extra work but extra money we have to find.
The minimum wage has been raised several times, as an appeasement to the unions, in fits and starts and not as proper indexations. A far better way to help the lower paid would be to raise the lower tax threshold substantially, which would also cut down on the paperwork.
Staff are more difficult to engage now because of the various tax credits which make it less attractive to work. You only have to go to any town or city to observe all the 'staff vacancy' notices in the windows.
Stakeholder pensions have been another burden. The staff we employ are mostly students and more mature people. None of these are the slightest bit interested in pensions - but we were threatened with fines if they were not instigated.
A loss of income has arisen from the fall in sales of cigarettes due to smuggling and the government appears powerless to stop trafficking, while ID cards would have been a benefit to us in controlling underage drinking and smoking.
Meanwhile, capital gains tax looms large and inheritance tax thresholds have not increased in line with property prices.
So, I cannot think of anything the government has done that has helped business.
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