New SME regulatory taskforce launched to cut red tape for small businesses

The Government has launched a new Small Business Regulatory Taskforce aimed at reducing regulatory and administrative burdens on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), as ministers seek to support growth and improve the business environment for smaller firms.

The taskforce, jointly led by the Department for Business and Trade and HM Treasury, will bring together representatives from government, regulators and industry to develop practical recommendations to simplify regulation for SMEs and micro-businesses.

According to the Government, the group will focus on identifying barriers within the current regulatory landscape and proposing reforms that improve the clarity, proportionality and effectiveness of regulation for smaller businesses. Areas under review include improving regulatory guidance, reducing duplication and complexity, and exploring ways to modernise interactions between businesses and regulators.

The taskforce will also engage directly with SMEs and industry stakeholders to gather evidence and test potential reforms before making recommendations to ministers.

The initiative comes as many small businesses continue to face economic pressures, rising costs and increasing compliance demands, with business groups regularly calling for a more proportionate regulatory framework.

“At a time when businesses need action it’s easy to be sceptical about another working group being convened,” she said. “SMEs have long been speaking up about the barriers they face – what matters now is delivery. This work is long overdue, and this taskforce will ultimately be judged on how quickly its recommendations become reality.”

Oertengren argued that while regulation remains important, many smaller businesses are being required to operate within frameworks that were originally designed with larger organisations in mind.

“There’s no doubt we need regulation, but the real issue at the centre of this is that not all of it currently works for smaller firms,” she said.

“With larger organisations often used as the mould for business regulation, small businesses can often feel like they’re trying to fit into a system that was never designed for them in the first place. This doesn’t mean we need new regulation, but rather a more proportionate look at the playbook for businesses of all sizes.”

She added that the taskforce should also consider the wider ecosystem supporting SMEs, including access to finance.

“If the government is really serious about this taskforce, the real test will also be whether it looks at the bigger picture. Because the country’s growth starters can only move as fast as the ecosystem around them, including the lenders backing their ambitions.”

The Government said the taskforce’s objective is to support business resilience, innovation and growth while maintaining important protections for workers, consumers, the environment and the wider public.

Its recommendations are expected to help shape future reforms designed to make regulation more effective and less burdensome for the UK’s smaller businesses.