Tories set to axe Business Link resource

The Conservatives will scrap the Government-run service Business Link if they win the next election, shadow enterprise minister Mark Prisk has suggested.

Business Link provides a wide range of information to UK businesses, covering subjects such as filing tax documents, taking out business insurance and using technology in the workplace. However, Prisk believes that the regional Business Link services, which cost the Government roughly £190 million a year to operate, do not represent good value for money.

Regional Business Links employ around 1,500 staff to maintain the advisory service, but Prisk said that it is “failing in its task”, adding:

“Many surveys show that only a small proportion of businesses use it, and those that do are dissatisfied with the service they receive.

“I also take the view that you shouldn’t employ civil servants to tell small-business owners how to run their firms. Our job in government – if we are elected – will be to create the right environment for small businesses to start and grow, not for us to tinker and meddle.”

It is thought that businesses are likely to be divided on the subject of scrapping the Business Link service. While some have expressed their unhappiness at the quality of the service in the past, many business owners still treat the site as a reliable source of information for their business.