To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he is taking to reduce the regulatory burden on small businesses.

A number of steps are being taken:

This month the Prime Minister asked Lord Young to look at what this Government can do to make life easier for small businesses. This will include examining ways in which the Government can remove barriers to growth and remove or minimise regulatory and bureaucratic burdens on business.

Recently, the Better Regulation Executive, published a report 'Lightening the Load' which highlights the cumulative regulatory burden affecting the smallest businesses-the findings will feed into Lord Young's review.

The BRE is actively working with Departments to identify regulation which is overly burdensome, particularly on small businesses, and support policy makers in using non-regulatory approaches.

The BRE is also undertaking a series of regional visits, speaking to SMEs all over the country to further identify ways to improve the business environment.

In September, the Government introduced the One-in, One-out rule-a significant step in stemming the flow of regulation and will focus Whitehall's attention on finding alternatives to regulation.