The British Chamber of Commerce says: "The BCC believes that the principle of the Single Business Account offers significant benefits to businesses, reducing red tape between local government departments and providing a good foundation for coordinated e-enabling of their transactions with business.
It’s refreshing to see an e-government project focusing on the needs of its customers first, and we hope that local authorities will support the initiative and succeed in delivering a truly joined-up approach,”
The Institute of Directors has commented: “Small and medium sized enterprises are the bedrock of the British economy.
There are currently 3.7 million SME’s in the UK, accounting for 99% of all businesses in the country and they employ 55.5% of the private sector workforce.
These Small firms promote competition, enhance consumer choice and provide an infrastructure that helps to sustain the activities of large firms. It is vital that they receive the right support at both the local and national level.
The Working with Business National Project will enable local authorities to provide this support to hard-pressed small enterprises in their local areas. The provision of clear and unambiguous information and advice from local government to businesses through the convenient medium of the internet has to be a very good thing indeed.”
The Single Business Account is particularly important – it will provide small businesses with better access to services from the town hall.
Small businesses today definitely look to explore information and services online and the WWB National Project will give local authorities the tools to help them meet this need.
Local authorities that are especially keen on start ups will benefit from this project as will those residents setting up their own small businesses.”
Ken Rutt Chair of the WWB National Project added: “We believe the SBA plays an key role in cementing the relationship between local councils and their local Business communities – they are key stakeholders in stability and success of the local economy and we welcome the support and comment from UK business.
Adam Wilkinson – Rotherham MBC Executive Director for Economic Development Services concurred: " The Working with Business National Project not only provides our local businesses with a single point of contact with the council but also, by advanced information management, allows us (the council) to provide a more effective and cohesive service in return. This combination supports well our drive for regeneration in order to grow and boost the local economy".
The Single Business Account aims to:
- allow businesses to be allocated a unique identifier that will enable secure transactions between the business and the local authority
- support transactions between local authorities and businesses conducted through face to face, website, and contact centre activity
- enable a business to access information about its transactions with the council (e.g. check progress on orders for services, property searches, etc.)
- allow the local authorities to collect and review data on businesses in their area
Quelle: Publictechnology.net, 25.11.2004
