A PRESSURE group representing hundreds of East Lancashire firms today launched a campaign to cut the burden of red tape.

The Federation of Small Businesses is compiling a dossier detailing all the regulations set to hit British companies from 2000 onwards.

It has written to each of its 150,000 members asking which pieces of legislation would pose particular problems. These will be compiled into a so-called "red tape file" and presented to the Small Business Service being set up by the Government to champion smaller companies.

Minister for the Cabinet Office, Mo Mowlam, will also receive the file when it is completed early next year.

In a letter to SBS chief executive David Irwin, Brendan Burns, chairman of the association's policy unit protested against the "increasing regulatory burden" that had hit small businesses in recent months.

Mr Burns said: "The majority of FSB members are owner-managers of firms that are too small to have separate personnel departments to deal with Government paperwork."

The FSB estimated one in three small firms fail within their first three years.

It added that it believed existing enterprises deserved greater support.

Regulations expected to be highlighted by its the FSB members include the working time directive, "family friendly" measures such as parental leave and the working families tax credit.

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