The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) Scotland has set out its key election priorities for the next UK government to undertake to help support Scottish small businesses.

The publishing of FSB’s UK General Election Manifesto comes just weeks before the upcoming general election, and contains over 150 pro-business policy proposals.

Andrew McRae, policy chair for FSB Scotland, said that the July 4th poll was “vital for small firms north of the border, given the significant number of steps the next UK government can take to boost business.”

As part of its research, the lobbying organisation found that, in particular, 90% of small business owners are concerned that business taxes could rise under the next government.

Key actions the FSB believes the next UK government could take to support small businesses in Scotland are:

• Increase and automatically uprate the Employment Allowance annually in line with any increases to the National Living Wage, to prevent stealth tax rises on employers as wages increase and to support small business employment.
• Increase the VAT threshold to £100,000 and then uprate the threshold in line with inflation, removing a major barrier for growth for small businesses and recent startups, and introduce a smoothing mechanism for businesses when they grow above this threshold.
• Provide greater protection for all small businesses in the energy market and extend the 14-day cooling off period available to domestic customers to all microbusinesses.
• Commit to introduce Third Party Intermediaries regulation into the energy market to eliminate unethical practices in the sector and improve trust.
• Return decision-making on shared prosperity funds to the devolved national government level to ensure better regional economic strategy when funding projects.
• Back the British Business Bank with additional long-term public funding designed to leverage in more private finance and grant more flexibility to deliver on regional growth, net-zero, and innovation, and track where money is allocated in terms of size, protected characteristics and geography of small businesses.
• Focus on reducing the number of individual steps or individual regulatory requirements small businesses must take to comply with regulations as a whole, in order to minimise the burden of compliance with legitimate regulatory goals.
• Work constructively with devolved nations to ensure better procurement across the UK, so every nation can benefit from more open public sector supply chains.
• Pilot a remote visa to benefit remote areas, such as the Highlands and Islands, in line with the Migration Advisory Committee recommendation.

Speaking on these actions, not least the ones related to taxes, McRae explained: “Raising the VAT threshold to £100,000 and then uprating it annually in line with inflation would remove a major barrier for growth for small businesses, as would introducing a smoothing mechanism for firms set to hit this threshold.”

“We’re also calling on the next government to increase and automatically uprate the Employment Allowance – effectively the tax threshold for employer’s National Insurance Contributions – in line with any increases to the National Living Wage. Ensuring thresholds keep up with wage increases guards against stealth tax rises on small business employment.

“We also need action on the energy market, where some key issues for small businesses remain. The next government could provide greater protection from cowboy providers by extending the 14-day cooling off period available to domestic customers to all microbusinesses. Regulation to control third party energy brokers could also improve trust in the sector.

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McRae added that: “Our UK FSB manifesto also sets out a wide range of asks to make the country a better place to start and run a business, on everything from access to finance, to tax-free shopping, to reducing the cumulative regulatory burden for small businesses. On immigration, we’re also keen that the next UK government pilots a remote visa to benefit remote areas, such as the Highlands, in line with the Migration Advisory Committee recommendation.”