Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills what steps he has taken since his appointment (a) to establish the conditions for further development of the private sector and (b) to remove barriers to industrial development. [39297]

Mark Prisk MP; Minister of State (Business and Enterprise): The Government are committed to promoting growth creating the right conditions to support a private sector-led recovery. Among the actions we have taken are:

clear direction and certainty on deficit reduction;

creating a tax regime that is the most competitive corporate tax system in the G20;

creating the Office of Tax simplification to provide the Government with independent advice on simplifying the UK tax system and improving our international competitiveness;

reforming the regulation of the financial system to make the economy more resilient to future shocks;

getting the regulatory framework right, with a groundbreaking new One-in, One-out system began;

maintaining business investment by ensuring that our legal and institutional frameworks are fair, efficient and transparent and provide the necessary certainty for firms to conduct their business with confidence;

a reduction in the small business profits rate and the waiver national insurance contributions for new businesses in most areas of the country;

tackling real and perceived barriers faced by people wanting to start and grow a business including improving access to finance;

creating high-quality transport infrastructure-over £10 billion over the spending review to provide new road schemes and to maintain existing roads; and

rolling out superfast broadband access across the country.

Further details can be found in 'The path to strong, sustainable and balanced growth' published jointly by the Secretary of State and the Chancellor in November 2010:
http://interactive.bis.gov.uk/comment/growth/
The paper sets out a four part commitment to private sector growth, which includes:

providing the stability business needs to plan and invest;

making markets more dynamic by removing barriers to growth wherever possible;

focusing the Government's own activities on providing the conditions for private sector growth and investment; and

ensuring that strong growth is fairly shared and sustainable in the long-term.

The paper also launched the Growth Review, a rolling programme running the life of the Parliament, under which each part of Government will be challenged on what they are doing to address the barriers facing industry, both across the economy and within specific sectors.