Written statement: Small Business Regulatory Taskforce: Government Response - Oct 26

Minister for Science, Innovation and Investment (Chris McDonald): My Honourable Friend, the Minister for Small Business and Enterprise (Lord Leong) made the following statement on Friday 23 October 2026.

Today, the government is publishing its response to the Small Business Regulatory Taskforce's report, setting out reforms to make regulation simpler, more proportionate and easier for small and medium-sized businesses to navigate.

Small and medium-sized businesses are the backbone of the United Kingdom's economy. They create jobs, drive innovation and support communities across the country. As the government works to reindustrialise the economy and strengthen the UK's industrial base, SMEs will play a central role in driving investment, commercialising innovation and creating high-quality jobs. Yet too often they face a disproportionate burden from fragmented processes, repeated requests for the same information and guidance that is difficult to find or navigate.

The government is committed to reducing the administrative cost of regulation to business by 25 per cent over the course of this Parliament. As part of that commitment, the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade established the Small Business Regulatory Taskforce to identify practical reforms that would improve the experience of regulation for smaller businesses.

The taskforce was a joint government and industry initiative, co-chaired by the Minister for Small Business and Tina McKenzie MBE, National Chair of the Federation of Small Businesses. I am grateful to its members, and to all the businesses and organisations that contributed evidence and insights to its work. The taskforce made 15 recommendations to the government covering regulatory submissions, guidance, regulatory passporting, business capability and support, and the design and enforcement of regulation.

Our response sets out a substantial package of reforms to make regulation simpler, more proportionate and easier to navigate, while maintaining essential protections for consumers, workers, communities and the environment.

At the heart of the response is our ambition to develop a Tell Government Once approach. Businesses should not have to provide the same information repeatedly to different parts of government. The Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade will work with the Government Digital Service, other government departments, regulators and businesses to explore options for a more joined-up service and, subject to future spending decisions, develop a roadmap following the next Spending Review.

The government recognises the Taskforce's concerns about the administrative burden of companies having to file information separately at Companies House and HMRC, resulting in duplicative filing requirements. In response to this, the government has decided to pause implementing the profit and loss filing requirement for April 2028. In the meantime, options will be explored to address stakeholder concerns about filing information separately at Companies House and HMRC, through the Tell Government Once ambition. We remain committed to delivering our economic crime objectives whilst also reducing business burdens and improving filing processes. Other accounts reforms requirements, including mandatory software-only filing, will be implemented from April 2028 as planned.

We will make it easier for businesses to report burdensome, disproportionate or outdated regulation and to access appropriate support through GOV.UK, business.gov.uk and the Business Growth Service. A no wrong door approach will help ensure that concerns reach the right part of government.

We will continue to develop reusable business credentials and more streamlined, secure and personalised digital interactions, including greater reuse of supplier information in procurement. Alongside these cross-government reforms we will convene a joint working group to consider further support for small food and drink businesses in complying with regulatory requirements.

Small businesses will remain central to the government's wider regulatory reform programme. Through the forthcoming Regulating for Growth Bill, the government plans to strengthen the existing Growth Duty. Sponsor departments will be expected to consider small business growth priorities when developing the next round of regulator Growth Goals.

We will also strengthen support for company directors, particularly first-time directors, and continue work to modernise licensing. Early work to digitise Temporary Event Notices indicates that redesigned processes can reduce administrative burdens significantly. We will extend this work to further local authorities and another type of licence.

Taken together, these 14 measures constitute a substantial response to the Taskforce's recommendations. They will reduce repeated form-filling, simplify business journeys and improve access to advice and support, reflecting a clear principle: government should work around businesses, rather than expecting businesses to work around government.

The government accepts all but one of the Taskforce's recommendations. It declines the recommendation to exempt small dormant and non-trading companies from filing an annual confirmation statement and paying the associated fee. While we understand the rationale behind the recommendation to remove the need to contact Companies House when there have been no changes, the confirmation statement provides an important annual checkpoint to maintain the accuracy of the companies register. The associated fee presents companies' annual contribution towards the benefits of incorporated status, including limited liability, the total value of which is around £9.6bn to companies with 0-9 employees.

A copy of the government's response will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses and made available on GOV.UK.