Small businesses and the survey burden
Individuals and organisations rely on government to provide accurate information on the state of society and the economy. To supply this, government departments rely on information gathered from citizens and businesses.
As the demand for data increases, so there can be a tendency for the burden falling on our suppliers to increase. In their dealings with government departments, businesses should be able to expect a quality service which does not invite undue pressure.
Government departments recognise the need to minimise the burden on businesses. To this end, the National Statistics Small Business Forum (NS SBF) was established in 2003 at the request of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The NS SBF brings together representatives of small businesses and managers from government departments.
This section describes the way these departments deal with businesses and the work being done to minimise the 'respondent load' or the survey burden on businesses.
Note:
The information on these pages was collected in 2006. The Office for National Statistics is not responsible for the information supplied by other government departments.
