Red Tape Survey (closed May 2007)
This survey was undertaken by Liverpool Chamber on behalf of Chambers in the North West. Download Chambers in the North West results (pdf).

Work/Life Balance Survey (closed May 2007)
The BCC undertook a National Survey with Accredited Chambers of which Liverpool Chamber is one.

Download the British Chambers of Commerce report here (this will take about 30 seconds to download)


Pricing in Proportion Survey (closed May 2007)
On the 21st August 2006 Royal mail changed the way in which mail was priced. They adopted a pricing system, PiP, based on size and weight of mail. PiP is meant to take into account the physical size of mail to determine postage prices:Royal Mail argued larger envelopes cost more to sort, handle and deliver, and this should be reflected in the price of postage. At the time of implementation, Royal mail estimated 80% of mail would not change price - in practicality, what has actually happened ?
View British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) results

Regional Wages Survey (closed February 2007)
This survey was undertaken by Chambers of Commerce in the North West including Liverpool Chamber. Copies of the survey can be purchased from Policy and Information at Liverpool Chamber at a cost of £25.00 for members and £45.00 for non-members. Please make cheques payable to Liverpool Chamber of Commerce and provide your full postal address. The survey will then be despatched with a receipted invoice. For further information on this survey click here.

Royal Mail Survey
Postwatch has argued strongly for actual times to be included in their licence obligations – Postcomm in the past has not enforced this as they felt it would harm Royal Mail’s effectiveness. Postcomm did make it clear that Royal Mail is expected to reach their efficiency targets through innovative and efficient practises and not through the decline of customer service i.e. very early collection times. Although some customers are beginning to see improvements in Royal Mail services, some have noted a decline in the quality of service. In rural areas, for example, the last collection time has been brought forward to 9am from 4pm. Also following the implementation of the Single Daily Delivery, many customers get a delivery much later in the day – implying that businesses are unable to provide a timely and immediate response to items they receive on the day. Postcomm wants to establish whether customers are sufficiently protected in light of these findings.

The results were forwarded to the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC).

Read BCC's Response here [PDF 162KB]

New Age Discrimination Regulations in employment
The Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006 come into force on 1st October 2006 and apply to employment and vocational training. They prohibit unjustified direct and indirect age discrimination and all harasment and victimisation on grounds of age, of people of any age, young or old.

Increases to the National Minimum Wage
The new National Minimum Wage increases will come into effect from 1st October 2006. The main rate will increase from £5.05 to £5.35 per hour. For those aged 18 - 21 the increase is to be from £4.25 to £4.45 per hour. The development rate for those aged 16 - 17 will increase from £3.00 to £3.30 per hour.
Click here for the BCC Submission to the Low Pay Commission 2006

Construction Survey (posted 25.08.2006)
Liverpool Chamber of Commerce & Industry is seeking your views on training and employment opportunities for local people in the Construction Industry.
View the results here.

Business Skills Survey
The Chambers of Commerce in the North West are undertaking a Business Skills Survey. The aim of this survey is to determine the extent to which this issue is affecting your business. Liverpool Chamber of Commerce and Industry urge you to take part in this survey. (Posted 26.07.2006) Click here for Chambers of Commerce North West Results [PDF]

Click here for Liverpool Results

Energy Efficiency Among SME's
Concern is increasing about the rising costs of environmental resources such as energy, waste, water and fuel. This is combined with increasing environmental regulations designed to help the Government reach its target of reducing carbon emissions by 60%, all of which have the potential to burden disproportionately small to medium sized businesses. This survey will be undertaken by Chamber members Nationaly and the results of this survey will be used to influence HM Treasury's resource allocations in the upcoming pre-Budget report and next years Comprehensive Spending Review. The survey is available from the title link (above) and should take no more than 5 minutes to complete.
The closing date for the survey is Friday 22nd September at 5pm.
Read the British Chambers of Commerce Efficiency Survey here.

Increasing Holiday Entitlement
The Government is currently consulting on proposals to increase the annual holiday entitlement to include the 8 permanent bank and public holidays in Britain. This would take the statutory minimum up to 5.6 weeks from 4 weeks, an equivalent of an increase from 20 days to 28 days for someone working a five day week. The proposals would not include a statutory requirement for the paid holiday to be taken on a bank or public holiday. Liverpool Chamber have produced a short survey from this consultation. The results were forwarded to the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC)
(Posted 31.08.2006) Click here for the BCC submission on Increasing the Holiday Entitlement

Pensions
The Government published its Pension White Paper at the end of May and is in active consultation with Key Stakeholders. David Frost and the BCC are in active consultation with the DWP and James Purnell the Pensions Minister has indicated as part of their wish to achieve a lasting consensus on the introduction of the National Pensions Savings Scheme (NPSS), and the changes to the state pension system, the Government is interested in the views of the Business Community and in particular small Businesses. In this context the BCC is working on its response in time for the consultation deadline. The BCC is aware that Businesses need the minimum of disruption of employees and processes and any change should ideally have no initial or ongoing administrative cost to business. As part of this process the BCC will be looking to set up a small working party to test its proposals, and have produced the first (of perhaps a series) web based survey questionnaire to provide input into the BCC policy response. Members of Liverpool Chamber of Commerce and Industry are urged to take part in this survey. Click here

The following article was written by John Ashcroft, the pensions regulator, to explain his offices position on work-related pensions. Click here

The results were forwarded to the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC)

Business Crime
The latest crime surveys from the Institute of Directors and the Federation of Small Businesses hold no surprises for The Business Crime Direct team at Liverpool Chamber of Commerce. The IOD survey showed that over a quarter of member businesses suffered from crime in a 12 month period and that on average, each crime cost that business £5,000. The FSB survey indicated that 6 out of 10 small businesses become a crime victim each year, and half of those crimes go unreported to the police.

Peter Jones, Liverpool Chamber's General Manager of Business Crime Direct supports these findings and indicates that
British Chambers of Commerce, strongly supported by Liverpool Chamber have been lobbying the Home Office for action since their own membership surveys showed similar results in 2000 and 2002. The Home Office have responded with pilot schemes in South Wales and Greater Manchester to record business crime as a separate category so that it can be identified and actioned. 10 regional Business Crime Reduction Advisors have been appointed in the regions and the Home Office employ a small Business Crime Team who are leading on a number of themes to tackle the issue. In the mean time Peter urges businesses to report all crime to the police so that a true picture can be seen.

Capital of Culture Business Club
Liverpool is known around the world for its maritime heritage, architecture, music and sport and the 'Capital of Culture 2008' title will reinforce the city's global status. One and a half million extra visitors are expected to attend the many world-class festivals and events that will take place in the run-up to and including 2008. Along the way Liverpool will benefit from billions of pounds of investment and will see thousands of jobs created. In order to ensure the proposed remit of the Business Club is in line with your needs and expectations an online survey is available for you to give us your views on the proposal.
View Results

Impact of industrial action survey 28/03/2006
The Liverpool Chamber seeks the opinion of Merseyside business on the impact to business of the Mersey tunnel closures and the public sector industrial action of Tuesday 28 March 2006. Please take a few moments to complete the survey to tell us of any impact on your business. Results

Business Issues Survey
This survey is for businesses on Merseyside to express their views on a number of national and local issues affecting business, including; employment and environmental legislation, tax burdens, deregulation, car parking, tunnel tolls, and Merseytram. The objective of the survey is to gauge the opinion of business on a number of contentious issues in order for the Chamber to represent and lobby for Liverpool and Merseyside's business interests at a local and national level. Local Results. National Results.

City Governance and Leadership
There is a general consensus amongst businesses in Liverpool that there is currently too much central Goverment control - this is harmful to the economy and business environment on Merseyside. More flexibility is needed to define local priorities and invest in them. There is a need to define an economically viable area, whether that is Merseyside or a broader City Region, and for greater devolved powers and financial tools to accompany this. However, the need for transparancy and accountability as well as strong leadership at the local level is crucial to the success of the City.
View Results

Liverpool / New York Air Link Survey
For several months there has been contact with airlines in the US regarding the possibility of a direct air service to link Liverpool John Lennon Airport with the East Coast of the USA. This is of particular business interest in view of the importance of the US market. Also, there are a number of significant international events that are scheduled for the area over the next few years, which will be of interest to visitors from the US, including: the Round the World Clipper Race, the British Open Golf Championship, Liverpool's 800th Birthday, and the Capital of Culture. We are keen to lobby for this service on the behalf of local business and are currently researching its viability.
View Results

Liverpool Chamber's Survey on Merseytram
Following Sir David Henshaw's recent letter to key partners about the possible effects of Merseytram to 2008, Liverpool Chamber believes it is crucial to consult all chamber members on this issue. The Chamber has always been an advocate of Merseytram and supported the proposal at the Public Enquiry. We believe that the Merseytram is an important infrastructure investment that would help tackle the growth in car-usage in the City, and attendant problems of parking and congestion. However, we also support the Capital of Culture year. Please let us know your views in this survey.

Read the reults of this survey here. [PDF]


DTI's Liberalising Trade in Services Survey
Merseyside Businesses are invitation to complete an on-line survey on the impact of liberalising trade in Services. The UK Government is currently involved in work to open trade in services within the EU through the proposed EU Services Directive and internationally through negotiations in the World Trade Organisation. This survey aims to look more closely at the specific types of barriers facing UK firms in the construction and business services sectors who have either established in another country, provided services abroad, or considered any of these options but decided against it. The survey is available on line at the above link using (password: rolafigu). The information gained from this survey will help the UK Government quantify the potential impact of the proposed EU Services Directive on these two service sectors and the wider economy. This evidence will also be fed into the WTO negotiations. Closed.

British Chamber of Commerce Enterprise Survey
In October 2005 the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) will be publishing a report on enterprise and business support. It will be a key tool for influencing Government, Regional Development Agencies (RDA's) and local authorities to make enterprise initiatives and business support, more business-driven and business-friendly. The report will have particular focus on business growth in deprived areas. To make this report representative of your views on enterprise initiatives, business support and obstacles to growth, we are conducting a short survey.

Click here to see Chamber Pension Policy Briefing.

The results were forwarded to the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC).

Tax Reform Commission Survey
The TRC is independent of any political party and is examining possible ways of simplifying the tax system for businesses and individuals. As part of its work, the TRC wishes to survey businesses in order to gather opinions on the issue of tax simplification. The BCC has agreed to participate in this exercise.
The results were forwarded to the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC).
More information about the TRC is available at www.taxreformcommission.com.

National Pensions Savings Scheme
The NPSS would target those employees 'not covered by other adequate pension arrangements' (e.g. an occupational pension scheme). Such employees would be automatically enrolled into the NPSS. The employee would have one month to 'opt out' of the scheme if they did not wish to be a member of it. Employees would pay 5% into the NPSS, with 1% of this coming from the tax relief that government devotes to pension contributions. Employers would be required to contribute 3% on behalf of all employees that chose to remain within the NPSS. Employers would be able to 'opt out' of the NPSS, provided that they offered their employees a scheme with contributions that were equal to or above those of the NPSS. In addition, firms that did choose to opt-out of the NPSS would be required to automatically enrol all employees into their alternative scheme (e.g. the firms' occupational pension scheme).

These results were forwarded to the British Chamber of Commerce (BCC).

Air Links - Liverpool John Lennon Airport
The success story around the expansion of the network of services available at Liverpool John Lennon Airport has been well reported and has been recognised in a recent report by the Civil Aviation Authority. In order to continue improving both the business connections and inward tourist requirements, it is essential that further links meet potential customer needs. A suitable link to a hub airport would ensure access to world-wide services and allow transfers with through handling of baggage that reduces the need to recover baggage and check-in again. Your assistance in answering a few questions would be appreciated. This would assist the Chamber in giving an informed opinion on requirements when lobbying or supporting our local airport's effort to expand its range of services. Closed.

Barriers to Transatlantic Trade and Investment
The UK, US and the European Union Chambers' of Commerce are currently undertaking a joint initiative to survey and map the key barriers companies face when trading and investing across the Atlantic. The survey is conducted by 'Eurochambres', which is an association of European Chambers of Commerce and Industry representing 43 national associate Chambers, a European network of 2000 regional and local Chambers, and 18 million member enterprises in Europe. The common objective is to deliver a strong message to political decision-makers in advance of future EU-US summits. Closed.

Pensions Survey
With the second report of the Pensions Commission due to be published later this year, the issue of compulsory pension contributions on the part of employers and/or employees could well feature heavily on the political agenda. In order to ensure that business has its say on this extremely important issue, please take a few moments to complete this short survey on pensions. The results of the survey will be fed into the very highest levels of government.

These results were forwarded to the British Chamber of Commerce (BCC).