FSB calls for small business taskforceThe FSB outlines its recommendations relating to energy and the drive to net zero.

Within the manifesto, the FSB outlines its recommendations relating to energy and the drive to net zero.

It first calls for the next government to provide greater protection for all small businesses in the energy market and extend the 14-day cooling off period – available to domestic customers – to all microbusinesses.

It also calls for the government to deliver on proposals to increase the number of small firms able to access the Energy Ombudsman by increasing the size limit to businesses with 50 or fewer employees and increasing the usage threshold fivefold.

Another recommendation from the FSB is for the next government to commit to introducing Third Party Intermediaries (TPI) regulation into the energy market to remove unethical practices and improve trust in the sector.

It would like to see the current Business Energy Advice Service Pilot and associated energy efficiency grants extended into a national scheme.

It would also like the threshold for energy efficiency and decarbonisation projects eligible for the Industrial Energy Transformation, and any similar schemes, reduced from £100,000 to £20,000 to support valuable smaller scale projects.

The FSB’s final recommendation is that the next government should establish a taskforce of suppliers, small business landlords, and business groups to agree on how to cut energy use in rented premises, and what changes to the law on commercial tenancies are needed to prevent commercial leases from blocking low carbon improvements.

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