Business owners are being urged to review their health and safety procedures ahead of the corporate manslaughter legislation, which is due to come into effect from April 6.
Under the new offence, companies and organisations can be found liable for a work-related death if actions at a senior level amount to gross breach of a duty of care to the deceased.
The legislation removes the need to find an individual responsible, making it easier to convict a business.
Doug Barnett, head of customer risk management at Axa, the insurance company, advised directors to evaluate their companies’ current health and safety management system themselves. “Involvement from the top level of an organisation will demonstrate that health and safety is a high priority. It will also help ensure that practices are implemented correctly,” he said.
The government was accused of making a U-turn this week in its effort to reduce the red tape burden when the prime minister announced the creation of a new forum to better understand the relation between risk and regulation.
The risk and regulatory advisory committee, an independent advisory body, was launched by Gordon Brown on Wednesday and was welcomed by the CBI, TUC and the National Consumer Council.
However the move was criticised by David Frost, director-general of the British Chambers of Commerce, who said the government had ruled out a similar body when it was proposed by the Better Regulation Commission last year.
Frost said: “It is vital that there is a powerful independent voice within Whitehall to scrutinise regulation and regulatory policy, but today’s announcement is a retrograde step.”
The cost of manufacturing in China is set to increase, an accountancy firm has warned.
Grant Thornton said UK clients setting up in China are now having to pay 25 per cent corporate tax on their operations, up from 15 per cent or less.
Businesses that have already set up have been able to continue to use tax holidays for a limited period, but will soon have to pay the 25 per cent too, according to Stephen Weatherseed, head of the Grant Thornton UK China group. “China no longer needs to encourage overseas investment to such an extent and its focus is now on measured growth, domestic companies and on encouraging high-tech and energy-efficient industries,” he said.
In spite of the tax increases, China will remain a low-cost manufacturing location, according to Nick Farr, a tax partner at Grant Thornton. He said that although factory gate prices are rising in China, continuing efficiency improvements make it a good location for investment by UK companies.
Business failures increased across most sectors during the last quarter, according to Equifax, the credit reporting company.
The construction industry suffered most with a 16.6 per cent rise in failures, followed by the services sector, where failures rose by 13.8 per cent.
Neil Munroe, external affairs director at Equifax, said: “Small businesses are very vulnerable to bad debt. It only takes one customer to go bust to jeopardise the future of a business.”
The best way to secure the future of a business is to run rigorous credit checks on customers and suppliers, he added.
The threat of strike action by Revenue & Customs staff means that self-assessment tax returns should be filed as soon as possible, the Forum of Private Business has warned.
The Public and Commercial Services Union, which represents about 70,000 Revenue employees, is due to announce the result of a strike ballot on January 23, days before the deadline for completed tax forms.
Self-assessment forms can be posted or completed online, but those who miss the January 31 deadline will be fined £100. Last year about 150,000 self-assessment forms were received in the final 24 hours.
The FPB, which has 25,000 members, is offering support for those struggling to file their returns through its partnership with The Business Software Centre, an accounting software supplier.
