Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills, what steps he is taking to improve the UK's ranking in the Word Bank's Doing Business survey for (a) starting a business, (b) registering property, (c) getting electricity and (d) enforcing contracts.

The World Bank recognises the UK as one of the best places in the world to do business. Their latest Ease of Doing Business ranking saw the UK climb to 8^th. This is evidence that our economic plan is delivering a more competitive economy; we are delivering on our commitment to make Britain the best place in the world to start and grow a business.

There is clearly still more to do.

With regard to specific action on the indicators mentioned:

Starting a business: The UK already has an online company registration system that compares favourably with the best in the world. In their latest Doing Business report, the World Bank applauded the efficiency of the UK’s company registry, Companies House, in a case study. Our Employment Allowance means no business pays the first £2000 of employers NICs, helping businesses create jobs.

We have improved the tax registration system for new businesses so processing new PAYE applications takes 3 days instead of 8. We are developing a one-click registration tool that should reduce the time and procedures to register even further. Delivery for this is planned for 2017.

Registering property: The Infrastructure Bill, which received Royal Assent on 12^th February this year, contains provisions to enable Land Registry to provide a single digital Local Land Charges service. This service will improve access, standardise fees and improve turnaround times for property professionals and citizens.

Getting electricity: The Department for Business Innovation and Skills, the Department for Energy and Climate Change and the energy regulator Ofgem have worked closely to improve the provision of new electricity connections. Ofgem will be implementing measures to remove barriers to competition in the connections market later this year. Increasing competition in the connections market will improve the quality of service and should help to drive down connection costs and times.

Enforcing contracts: The Department for Business Innovation and Skills has been working closely with the Ministry of Justice to improve the speed in at which contract disputes are resolved. The World Bank measures the performance of the court system in London. Central London County Court is undergoing significant transformation to deliver an improved service to court users and make best use of its administrative and judicial resources. The Ministry of Justice have set up a pilot in London where the Central London County Court acts as the multi-track triage centre for London. Previously cases were managed at the individual centres around London before being sent to CLCC for final hearing. This streamlining of the case management process should reduce the length of disputes by between 30 – 90 days.