Before the general election on 7 May we’re interviewing representatives from the main political parties about what they will do for small businesses. Cllr Howard Allen is a Green party candidate for Solihull in the general election, and the party spokesperson for business, innovation and skills
The manifesto
After the Green party’s manifesto launched on 14 April, headlines have focused on policies relating to the environment and animal welfare – including bans on foie gras and cages for farm hens and rabbits.
But what does the manifesto mean for small businesses? “Hopefully it means a better future,” says Allen.
“We are also looking at reinvestment in public services – that will create lots more jobs, more money in the local economy,” he adds. “I am from a small business and self-employed background myself. One of my greatest fears was the corporates coming along and undercutting me in a tender situation any time they choose. Public bodies have to give protection for small businesses.”
Local authorities
A new enterprise centre supporting local businesses has just opened in Solihull. This is the kind of support he wants to see made available for small firms across the country. At the centre you can hire a small office or hot desk and receive professional advice on issues such as VAT and pension requirements.
The Green party would hand over a lot more power to local authorities. Its manifesto stipulates that more expenditure decisions would be made at a local level and land value tax would replace the current system of business rates.
Allen says: “In terms of retail, business rates are a big issue. It is unfair for small businesses.” He wants to see the current business rates discount continue, but thinks local authorities should get more say in determining taxes.
Introducing land value tax would help prevent a monopoly of big supermarket chains pushing small firms off the high street, he says, drawing on an example from his local area: “We have one supermarket chain – I shouldn’t mention the name – sat on a development site for 20 years. The fact is, if they had been paying land value tax they would have to pay tax on that site. They have been exempt from more than £3m in business rates over that time. Meanwhile, on the high street we have shops suffering.”
Regarding access to finance, the Green party also wants to develop “community banks”, designed to channel local savings into community enterprises.
Living wage
Centre to the Green party’s policies is an increase in the minimum wage – up to £10 an hour in London by 2020 – and a ban on zero-hours contracts. Won’t this be crippling for some micro-businesses and small firms?
“It would be, if we didn’t insist again that the corporates come into the frame early on,” says Allen. If big businesses, such as supermarket chains, paid higher wages, then people would have more money in their pocket to put back into the economy – and this would help support small firms, he says.
Allen says in his experience small businesses “generally” pay the living wage when they can. “They are more empathetic for people that work for them and they want to pay them as much as they can,” he says. “The low-wage economy doesn’t work because the deficit hasn’t come down as promised. The level of wages is too low, particularly on the bottom rung.”
The EU
The Green party doesn’t think there is any “great danger” of leaving the EU, Allen says – but a referendum would be held on the UK’s membership.
Asked if this could create further uncertainly for small businesses, Allen says: “It is only those small businesses who do trade with Europe who really report it as a problem and to be fair the proportion is not that great.”
Apprentices
Allen does not agree with the Conservatives’ ambition to create 3m more apprenticeships, saying it’s “just another way to get people off the unemployment register”.
“One of the things small businesses come to me about is they really haven’t got the time to train people to the extent that’s needed [for apprenticeships]. The Green party does support apprenticeships but they have to be quality apprenticeships, there has to be a good end result.”
Allen says the “administrative overheads” involved in training apprentices are often too much for small firms to cope with.
Education
Asked if school children should receive training in entrepreneurship, Allen says a better approach would be to get small businesses involved in the education system. “The schools don’t have the skills, they don’t have the background in business,” he says. “What I am discovering is the point of contact is very difficult because we have these academies, free schools and all the rest of it, and if businesses want to link with schools they have to make umpteen telephone calls.”
Allen says the idea that children leave school “unskilled” is wrong. “Some of the kids leaving school have got more than my level of IT skills and in my view most of them have the basics in literacy and numeracy – it’s the application of that to the work place that’s missing.”
Reaction
What type of reaction is Allen receiving on his campaign trail? The council veteran and grandfather-of-seven says small businesses are giving him a “sympathetic hearing”. He adds: “They want to see a vibrant economy and we think we offer that more than anybody else. We feel it’s important to grow the economy rather than just cut back on things.”
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