Government minister visits Shropshire Food Enterprise Centre

Friday 9th September 2011, 11:42AM BST.

Caroline Spelman visits the Food Enterprise Centre in Shrewsbury and watches apprentice Kelly Jones at work

Small and medium sized businesses in Shropshire can be assisted by removing some of the burdens of red tape they face, a Government minister has claimed.

Speaking on a visit to Shropshire Food Enterprise Centre in Shrewsbury, Secretary of State for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Caroline Spelman said the issue was one business owners often raise with her.

“If you talk to small businesses, a regular complaint is red tape. The very first thing we did on getting into Government was to set up a red tape taskforce to tackle the issue in the food and agricultural industries,” Mrs Spelman said.

She added that Defra was looking to implement policies that would reduce the problems firms face in meeting various types of legislation.

Mrs Spelman said one problem is businesses being inspected by several different Government departments for similar reasons. “That is not only a burden to the business, but also a burden to the taxpayer. You have different organisations coming to check on the same thing,” she said.

“I think the other important thing is for the Government to put pressure on banks to lend to small businesses. They have to demonstrate they are doing it.

“Support for small businesses is absolutely vital for the growth of the economy.”

As part of her visit to Shrewsbury, Mrs Spelman met businesses based in the Shropshire Food Enterprise Centre, as well as Karen Davies, chief executive of Heart of England fine foods, the organisation which manages the centre.

Mrs Davies said that it was a positive meeting.

View more: Shrewsbury news, Shropshire Food Enterprise Centre news.