Small businesses will get a one-stop shop for guidance on health and safety and employment legislation, the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) announced today.

An independent review, led by former recruitment business owner Sarah Anderson CBE, has recommended a range of solutions to improve the quality of guidance government gives to business.

The suggestions will help SMEs comply with the law, as well as saving firms time and money. They include:

— a telephone advice service, free to small-and-medium sized businesses for the first year,
— government taking responsibility for its guidance, removing disclaimers and encouraging discretion over prosecution of ‘reasonable’ businesses, and
— creating a single access point for all government guidance.

Anderson says: “Improving the quality of, and access to, government advice is vital if we want to see better understanding of, and compliance with the law. The vast majority of small businesses want to comply with the law. Government should give them a cost effective and efficient way for them to do so.”

Anderson owned and ran the Mayday Group, a specialist employment business and agency supplying catering staff, for 19 years.