Councils get together to talk with the small businesses

North Yorkshire County Council and the councils of Craven, Ryedale, Richmondshire, Hambleton, Harrogate, Scarborough and York, as well as the North Yorkshire Moors and Yorkshire Dales national park authorities said they wanted to achieve a more constructive relationships with local firms as they signed the Federation of Small Businesses’ (FSB) small business engagement accord.

The principles state:

Council-nominated “business engagement champions” should be created to ensure the views of local companies are considered during consultation exercises;

The champions should be asked to create effective links with the business community;

Councils should identify business owners who can be champions;

Public consultations should be “front-loaded” so councils engage with business community happens in the early stages;

Recognised business organisations should be used when councils consult with small businesses;

Councils must not regard consultation with one company or business organisation as sufficient;

Local, regional and central government should make it easier to understand and respond to consultation documents;

Consultation documents should use the correct language for a particular audience;

Councils should use tools such as newsletters, web sites, text messages, local media and its own staff to promote better business engagement in consultations;

Councils should give greater notice of consultation meetings;

Consultations with business should be an ongoing dialogue with at least one open meeting every three months, rather than being limited to formal exercises;

Councils should run consultations with small businesses annually to examine local authority spending plans for the following financial year;

Consultations should demonstrate the outcomes and the rationale behind the final decisions;

Councils should work with local strategic partnerships to ensure they communicate with local small businesses and business organisations.

David Cox, FSB national councillor, said: “This mass commitment, one of the first in the country and the first to include NPAs, goes a long way to build the reputation of a small business friendly region.”

Barry Dodd, chairman of the York and North Yorkshire LEP, said: “Support for small business growth is one of our top priorities.

“We will be working closely with the FSB and our other business partners to encourage all public sector bodies to develop more constructive relationships with local SMEs.”