NI's small business federation hits out at Brown

An announcement made by British Chancellor Gordon Brown at last year’s UK budget still has no timetable for implementation, according to Northern Ireland’s biggest business organisation.

The criticism comes in a UK budget submission from the Federation of Small Businesses published today.

The representation takes the UK Treasury to task for failing to act on last year’s budget speech in which Gordon Brown said that the working tax credit should be paid direct to claimants by the UK Inland Revenue rather than by employers.

The FSB said administering benefit payments such as tax credits and Statutory Maternity Pay places a huge burden on Northern Ireland's small businesses which, unlike most large firms, do not have separate payroll departments.