Press Release: MPs unaware of schemes and tax cuts that aid entrepreneurs, finds think tank

In the first survey of its kind, Parliamentary Snapshot has uncovered the views of MPs on polices impacting entrepreneurs. The two main findings are:

• MPs are split across party lines on the sorts of policies they believe would positively impact entrepreneurship in the UK;
• MPs are unaware of many policies in place to support entrepreneurs.

The survey ( http://www.adamsmith.org/research/reports/parliamentary-snapshot-mps-on-entrepreneurship/ ) – conducted for the think tank The Entrepreneur's Network by YouGov – finds that Conservative MPs are more likely to believe cuts to tax and regulation will improve the state of entrepreneurship in the UK, while Labour MPs are more likely to think policies that involve increases spending will improve entrepreneurship. The only policy where both sides are significantly aligned is in spending more on improving the skills of the domestic workforce (93% of Conservative MP and 89% of Labour MPs believe this would have a positive impact on entrepreneurship in the UK).

The most significant split between the two main parties is over exempting the UK from EU business regulation. While 91% of Conservative MPs think this would have a positive impact on entrepreneurial activity in the UK, just 15% of Labour MPs agree. In fact, 63% of Labour MPs think exempting the UK from EU business regulation would have a negative impact on entrepreneurial activity in the UK.

Top 3 Policy Positions: All MPs

	Policy	Positive
1st	Spending more on improving the skills of the domestic workforce	92%
2nd	Lowering business taxes	73%
3rd	Cutting UK business regulation	72%

Top 3 Policy Positions: Conservative MPs

	Policy	Positive MPs
1st	Cutting UK business regulation	98%
2nd	Lowering personal taxation	94%
3rd	Exempting the UK from EU business regulation	91%
3rd	Lowering business taxes	91%

Top 3 Policy Positions: Labour MPs

	Policy	Positive MPs
1st	Spending more on improving the skills of the domestic workforce	93%
2nd	Spending more on government support services	76%
3rd	Spending more on government grants and loans	75%

Top Policy Splits: Labour vs. Conservative MPs

	Policy	Positive Con. MPs	Positive Lab. MPs	Split
1st	Exempting the UK from EU business regulation	91%	15%	76 pp
2nd	Lowering personal taxes	91%	29%	62 pp
3rd	Cutting UK business regulation	98%	42%	56 pp
4th	Lowering business taxes	91%	46%	45 pp
5th	Spending more on government support services	40%	76%	36 pp
6th	Spending more on government grants and loans	45%	75%	30 pp

The Knowledge Gap

The survey also exposed a surprising lack of knowledge among MPs about the policies already in place to support entrepreneurs. Too often, over half of MPs either haven’t heard about established polices or don’t know whether they are effective.

Least Known Policies: All MPs

	Policy	Never Heard of it	Heard of it but don’t know whether it’s effective or not	Total
1st	Angel CoFund	66%	8%	74%
2nd	GrowthAccelerator	50%	14%	64%
3rd	Tech City UK	48%	13%	61%
4th	Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS)	42%	13%	55%
5th	Entrepreneurs’ Relief	42%	12%	54%
6th	Patent Box	42%	9%	51%

There is a mismatch between the strength of MPs’ opinions about what would benefit entrepreneurship in the UK and their understanding of the current policies in place.

The majority of Conservative MPs believe that tax cuts would be the best way to support entrepreneurship in the UK, with 94% of Conservative MPs in favour of lowering personal taxation and 91% for lowering business taxation. However, many are unaware of the tax incentives already in place for entrepreneurs. For example, 52% of Conservative MPs either had not heard of the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS), or didn’t know enough about it to determine whether it is effective. (The SEIS grants individual investors up to 50% tax relief on investing in smaller companies up to a maximum of £100,000.)

Similarly, the majority of Labour MPs think spending more would be the best way to support entrepreneurship in the UK, with 76% in favour of spending more on government support services, and 75% or government grants and loans. However, many are unaware of government spending already in place. For example, 62% of Labour MPs had not heard of GrowthAccelerator, or didn’t know about it well enough to determine whether it is effective. (GrowthAccelerator is a significant programme of support, offering coaching and expert advice to help businesses attract investment, increase sales and innovate quickly.)

Commenting on the survey, Philip Salter, Director of The Entrepreneur’s Network, said:

It’s encouraging that MPs are increasingly vocal about supporting Britain’s entrepreneurs; however, the fact that they are unfamiliar with the policies already in place is worrying.

As things stand, MPs don’t appear adequately informed to vote on future policy changes impacting entrepreneurs. Also, MPs should be familiar with these schemes so that they are able to pass on details to the many entrepreneurs they meet in their constituencies.

Notes to Editors:

For further comments or to arrange an interview, contact Kate Andrews, Communications Manager, at kate@adamsmith.org / 07584 778207 or Philip Salter, Director of TEN, at philip@tenentrepreneurs.org / 07919 355290.

The Entrepreneurs Network is a cross-party think tank designed to bring entrepreneurs to the forefront of political discourse and help make Britain the best place in the world to start a business.

The Entrepreneurs Network is based within the Adam Smith Institute and is supported by Octopus Investments, one of the UK’s fastest growing fund management companies specialising in smaller company investing.

YouGov polled 105 Members of Parliament, with data weighted to be representative of the House of Commons by party, gender, electoral cohort and geography. Fieldwork took place between the 7^th and 19^th May 2014.

The Mail on Sunday's feature on TEN's Parliamentary Snapshot survey

The Mail on Sunday ran an exclusive feature on TEN's Parliamentary Snapshot- the first survey of its kind, which uncovers the views of MPs on policies impacting entrepreneurs. From The Mail on Sunday:

Half had not heard of the GrowthAccelerator, a support scheme for fast-growing firms, while the existence of Tech City, the cluster of technology start-ups in East London was unknown to 48 per cent.

The Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme, which offers tax incentives to savers investing in small businesses was unknown to 42 per cent, and the same percentage had neither heard of Entrepreneurs’ Relief, a Capital Gains Tax relief for entrepreneurs selling their businesses, nor Patent Box, which allows companies to apply a lower rate of corporation tax to profits from patented inventions and other innovations.

Philip Salter, director of The Entrepreneurs Network, which is supported by investment firm Octopus and the Adam Smith Institute, said: ‘It’s encouraging that MPs are increasingly vocal about supporting entrepreneurs. However the fact that they are unfamiliar with the policies already in place is worrying. MPs don’t appear adequately informed to vote on future policy changes affecting entrepreneurs.

‘MPs should be familiar with these schemes so they are able to pass on details to the many entrepreneurs they meet in their constituencies.’

Read the full feature here.

In the first survey of its kind, Parliamentary Snapshot- conducted for the think tank The Entrepreneur's Network by YouGov- has uncovered the views of MPs on polices impacting entrepreneurs. 

Read or download the briefing paper here.

The Entrepreneurs Network is a cross-party think tank designed to bring entrepreneurs to the forefront of political discourse and help make Britain the best place in the world to start a business. TEN is based within the Adam Smith Institute and is supported by Octopus Investments, one of the UK’s fastest growing fund management companies specialising in smaller company investing.

ASI Senior Fellow is quoted in The Guardian on Mayor of London's 'Europe Report'

Senior Fellow of the Adam Smith Institute, Tim Ambler, was quoted in The Guardian, arguing that the Mayor of London's 'Europe Report' has a "number of failings", making it unreliable:

Tim Ambler, a senior fellow of the Adam Smith Institute, described The Europe Report: a Win-Win Situation as an “important review” but with “a number of failings” including offering findings “we cannot rely on”. He contended that Lyons is “not specific” about what would be needed to bring about what he concludes would be the best of four theoretical scenarios for London, this being the UK staying in the EU “but with substantial reforms”.

Read the full article here.

Sam Bowman discusses new ASI report "Quids In" on CNBC

Research Director of the Adam Smith Institute and author of the report “Quids In: How sterlingization and free banking could help Scotland flourish”, Sam Bowman, appeared on CNBC to discuss the paper’s proposed policy of ‘adaptive sterlingization.’

The report, “Quids In: How sterlingization and free banking could help Scotland flourish”, can be read and downloaded for free here.

Answer to Scots' currency dilemma - Sam Bowman writes for the Yorkshire Post

Ahead of tonight's BBC referendum debate, Research Director and author of the ASI’s new report “Quids In: How sterlingization and free banking could help Scotland flourish”, Sam Bowman, writes for The Yorkshire Post:

SCOTS HAVE rightly focused on the question of currency as they prepare to decide whether to vote for or against independence next month. In the last television debate between Alex Salmond and Alastair Darling, the SNP leader struggled to explain how Scotland would cope without a formal currency union with the rest of the UK. Tonight, he will need to do better.

In a new paper for the Adam Smith Institute, I offer a solution to Salmond’s problem. I argue that an independent Scotland should continue using the pound sterling without a currency union. Combined with a system of financial reform based on Scotland’s most successful period in economic history, this system of ‘adaptive sterlingisation’ could give Scotland a highly stable banking system and economy in the long run.

The report, “Quids In: How sterlingization and free banking could help Scotland flourish”, can be read and downloaded for free here.

ASI report "Quids In" is featured in CityAM, The Huffington Post, and The Sun Online

A new report from the Adam Smith Institute, “Quids In: How sterlingization and free banking could help Scotland flourish”, was featured in CityAM, The Huffington Post and The Sun Online. The report argues that an independent Scotland could have a more stable economy than the rest of the UK if adopted a policy of, what it calls, ‘adaptive sterlingization’, which combines unilateral use of the pound with financial reforms to remove government protection of established banks.

From CityAM:

Yesterday the Adam Smith Institute (ASI) published a report arguing that Alex Salmond's plan B, using sterling without a currency union, should actually be plan A. The report outlined how "adaptive sterlingsation" could benefit the Scottish economy by acting as a market-based mechanism to stabilise demand during a downturn.

Furthermore, the repeal of financial regulations that privilege established banks could keep Scottish banks prudent as there would be no deposit insurance or central bank to act as a lender of last resort, according to the ASI.

From The Huffington Post:

A new report from the Adam Smith Institute said that "sterlingisation", combined with reforms to banking regulations, could lead to banks taking fewer risks, reducing the likelihood of future financial crises.

Sam Bowman, research director at the Adam Smith Institute and the author of the report, said Scotland was "almost uniquely primed for such a system of 'adaptive sterlingisation'".

The prospect of Scotland using the pound with the formal agreement of the rest of the UK, and without the back-up of having the Bank of England as a lender of last resort, was raised as Salmond comes under increasing pressure in the run-up to next month's referendum to set out an alternative to a currency union.

From The Sun Online:

A report by the Adam Smith Institute claims our banks would take fewer risks after independence if they cut ties to the Bank of England.

The study says the result would be greater stability than in the UK — limiting the danger of another disastrous crash like in 2008.

Author Sam Bowman, research director at the Institute, said: “The path outlined would go almost unnoticed by the average Scot.

“But at the next big economic shock they might wonder why their system was so much more stable than that of the country they left behind."

The report, “Quids In: How sterlingization and free banking could help Scotland flourish”, can be read and downloaded for free here.

Kate Andrews comments on Venezuelan president's plan to fingerprint supermarket shoppers in CityAM

The Adam Smith Institute's Communications Manager, Kate Andrews, commented on the Venezuelan president's plan to implement fingerprinting systems in supermarkets in CityAM:

The President of Venezuela, Nicolas Maduro, has announced plans for a major mandatory fingerprinting system to combat the increasingly dire food shortages and rampant smuggling afflicting the Latin American state...

...Communications manager at the Adam Smith Institute, Kate Andrews, said:

A system that needs to implement heavy surveillance in local food markets or deploy 17,000 troops along the border to prevent the smuggling of staple food items is a failed system indeed. Rather than allocating time and resources into policing the purchases of apples and pears, President Maduro should abolish price controls, creating an economy where commerce and consumption are encouraged, not criminalised.

Read the full article here.

The Scotland Tonight Feature on the ASI's "Quids In" Report

On Thursday (21 August 2014), STV's Scotland Tonight featured the Adam Smith Institute's new report "Quids In: How sterlingization and free banking could help Scotland flourish”. The feature included an interview with the report's author and Research Director of the Adam Smith Institute, Sam Bowman. It also included an interview with the Executive Vice President of Atlas Bank in Panama, Ariel San Martine-Mendez.

The report, “Quids In: How sterlingization and free banking could help Scotland flourish”, can be read and downloaded for free here.

A Sterling Solution for an Independent Scotland - Sam Bowman writes for The Wall Street Journal Europe

Research Director and author of the ASI’s new report “Quids In: How sterlingization and free banking could help Scotland flourish”, Sam Bowman, writes for The Wall Street Journal Europe:

The Scottish independence debate has been dominated by one question: What currency would an independent Scotland use? Ever since Chancellor George Osborne ruled out the prospect of a formal currency union between Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom, Alex Salmond's Scottish Nationalists have evaded the question, threatening their chances of victory in next month's referendum on a split from the U.K.

But if Scots looked to their own history they would find a surprisingly simple solution. The best choice for Scotland, even better than a currency union, would be "adaptive sterlingization"—use of the British pound without a currency union with the rest of the U.K., combined with financial reforms that removed deposit insurance, reserve requirements and central-bank protections from banks.

Read the full article here.

The report, “Quids In: How sterlingization and free banking could help Scotland flourish”, can be read and downloaded for free here.

The report argues that an independent Scotland could have a more stable economy than the rest of the UK if adopted a policy of, what it calls, ‘adaptive sterlingization’, which combines unilateral use of the pound with financial reforms to remove government protection of established banks.

Sam Bowman discusses new ASI report "Quids In" on BBC Scotland

Research Director of the Adam Smith Institute and author of the report “Quids In: How sterlingization and free banking could help Scotland flourish”, Sam Bowman, appeared on BBC Scotland to discuss the paper's proposed policy of 'adaptive sterlingization.'

The report, “Quids In: How sterlingization and free banking could help Scotland flourish”, can be read and downloaded for free here.