Barnet Council consultation on small business - The Elephant in the room

There is a press release on the Barnet Council website, asking for ideas to help the council engage with small business in the Borough. Rather interestingly it tells us that more people start small businesses in Barnet than any other London borough. It is good that we are such an enterprising lot, but in truth as Barnet has the largest population of any London Borough, this is not really that surprising. Sadly it reveals that a higher than average number of these businesses fail. Whilst there is a myriad of reasons for this, clearly the council is not offering the support it could to small business.

In the press release, Deputy Leader of the Council Dan Thomas says

“Councils cannot wave a magic wand and transform the economy, but we can work to make sure the whole public sector is working with business in mind, in part by minimising red tape and stepping out of the way. But there is a positive role for councils to play. The investment that Barnet Council has put into supporting NEETS, young people not in education, employment or training, has played a part in Barnet having the fourth lowest proportion of such young people in the UK, and shows what a small amount of well targeted support can achieve.“I would like to hear from residents and businesses where they think similarly careful investment and other support could help business in the borough.” 

Sadly it appears that Dan just hasn't been paying attention. There are plenty of forums where he could come along. The FSB hold a free breakfast networking session for Small businesses the first Monday of every month at Cafe Buzz in North Finchley. It's free to attend and 20-30 small business owners regularly attend. It is open to all. There are all manner of similar events, hosted by other organinsations as well. If Mr Thomas attended any of these, he'd hear two common themes.

1. Barnet Council has destroyed many successful businesses with its botched parking policies. High charges, abolishing pay and display cash machines etc have created a hostile environment in the High Street.

2. The councils business rates are administered in a way that is extremely detrimental to business. I have had several appeals against the rates and the average time to resolve these (all in my favour with large reductions and refunds) has been 18 months. Even worse, we've seen recent cases of use of baliffs to chase debts, where it was clear that the business in question was in the process of resolving the issue.

It is all very well to make such positive statements, but any Barnet Councillor who bothered to read blogs such as this would know just what a difficult organisation Barnet Council is to deal with. I personally had an issue with the council when we were investing in our new studio complex. The new development has been open for 2 years and we've generated over 50 full and part time jobs in the Borough. The development was held up for nearly three months because the council insisited on changes to the plans costing thousands of pounds. Why? Because they wanted a 40' High building lowered by 9 inches, so that people in Mill Hill Park could have a better view of the M1 overbridge in Bunns Lane. Who benefitted from this? The story is repeated time and time again in small planning applications lodged by businesses all over the borough.

The council has no portal on its website to promote the thousands of local businesses or sell Barnet as a place to do business. How hard would this be to reslove. If you own a business and have had an issue with Barnet Council, please email Dan Thomas and explain. It is the only way things will improve.

Here is the full statement

Barnet Council is asking residents, business and other organisations for their views on a new Entrepreneurial Barnet policy.The council is aiming to make the borough the best place in London to be a small business.The policy explores how the whole public sector in the borough can work together to support successful business.

This would potentially include ensuring there is the right mix of skills available in the workforce for local employers, making it easier for local businesses to bid for public sector contracts, working to make town centres safe and attractive, and getting the right mix of residential and employment opportunities in regeneration areas.Barnet currently has more business start-ups than almost any London borough (2,912 in 2012) but only 53 per cent of businesses survive more than three years, less than the outer London average.
Councillor Daniel Thomas, Deputy Leader of Barnet Council, said: “Councils cannot wave a magic wand and transform the economy, but we can work to make sure the whole public sector is working with business in mind, in part by minimising red tape and stepping out of the way.

“But there is a positive role for councils to play. The investment that Barnet Council has put into supporting NEETS, young people not in education, employment or training, has played a part in Barnet having the fourth lowest proportion of such young people in the UK, and shows what a small amount of well targeted support can achieve.
“I would like to hear from residents and businesses where they think similarly careful investment and other support could help business in the borough.”
To view the consultation documents and to comment on the draft policy visit the engage wesbsite.

 Click here for the original press release
http://www.barnet.gov.uk/news/article/587/consultation_launched_on_ways_to_support_barnet_businesses