View source for Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of the United Kingdom
| long_title            = An Act to make provision about improved access to finance for businesses and individuals; to make provision about regulatory provisions relating to business and certain voluntary and community bodies; to make provision about the exercise of procurement functions by certain public authorities; to make provision for the creation of a Pubs Code and Adjudicator for the regulation of dealings by pub-owning businesses with their tied pub tenants; to make provision about the regulation of the provision of childcare; to make provision about information relating to the evaluation of education; to make provision about the regulation of companies; to make provision about company filing requirements; to make provision about the disqualification from appointments relating to companies; to make provision about insolvency; to make provision about the law relating to employment; and for connected purposes.
| year                  = 2015
| citation              = 2015 c. 26
| introduced_commons    =
| introduced_lords      =
| territorial_extent    = United Kingdom
| royal_assent          = 26 March 2015
| commencement          =
| expiry_date           =
| repeal_date           =
| amends                =
| replaces              =
| amendments            =
| repealing_legislation =
| related_legislation   =
| status                = amended
| legislation_history   =
| theyworkforyou        =
| millbankhansard       =
| original_text         = https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/26/enacted
| revised_text          =
| use_new_UK-LEG        = yes
| UK-LEG_title          =
| collapsed             =
}}
The '''Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015''', also referred to as '''SBEE''',<ref>UK Government, [https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/small-business-enterprise-and-employment-bill Small Business, Enterprise and Employment (SBEE) Act], published 25 June 2014, accessed 2 July 2021</ref> received [[Royal Assent]] in March 2015.<ref>{{Cite legislation UK | type = act| year = 2015| chapter = 26| act = Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015}}</ref> Its contents include [[regulatory reform#United Kingdom|regulatory reform]] (part 2), [[Government procurement in the United Kingdom|public sector procurement]] (part 3) and [[company director]] disqualification issues (part 9).
==Provisions==
===Business impact target===
Part 2 contained provision for the government to publish a "business impact target", which is {{quote|a target for the Government in respect of the economic impact on business activities of qualifying regulatory provisions.<ref>[https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/26/part/2/crossheading/business-impact-target/enacted Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015], section 21, accessed 5 February 2023</ref>}}Statutory guidance on this duty was published in January 2019.<ref>[[Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy]], [https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/776507/Busines__Impact_Target_Statutory__Guidance_January_2019.pdf Business Impact Target Statutory Guidance], published January 2019, accessed 5 February 2023</ref>
The relevant legislative provisions, namely section 21 to 27 of the 2015 Act were repealed and the business impact target itself was abolished by the [[Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023]].<ref>{{Cite legislation UK |type=act |year=2023 |chapter=28 |act=Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023 |section=18 |date=29 June 2023|accessdate=1 September 2023}}</ref>
===Public sector procurement===
Part 3 concerns powers to make further regulations regarding public sector procurement, including processes for entering into contracts and [[contract management]] (section 39) and investigations into procurement functions (section 40). One of the particular objectives underlying potential regulations would be to ensure that procurement functions are exercised in an efficient and timely manner.<ref>UK Legislation, [https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/26/section/39 Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015, section 39(5)(a)]</ref> These sections were repealed by the [[Procurement Act 2023]], although investigatory powers remain in place under Part 10 of the new procurement legislation.<ref>UK Legislation, [https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2023/54/schedule/11/enacted Procurement Act 2023], Part 10 and Schedule 11, accessed 8 January 2024</ref>
Examples of public sector purchasing practices identified in a [[Cabinet Office]] consultation regarding the proposed legislation in 2014, before it was enacted, included over-complicating requirements and 'gold-plating' [[Specification (technical standard)|specification]]s, being over-prescriptive for lower value procurements, complex [[Invitation to tender|tender documentation]], and making inappropriate use of [[framework agreement#Procurement|framework agreement]]s when they can be a barrier for [[small business]]es, and internal decision making procedures.<ref>Cabinet Office, [https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/394639/SBEE_Bill_-_consultation_responses.pdf Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill. Reforms to public procurement – analysis of responses to consultation]: Question 3, accessed 29 August 2021</ref>
===Company directors===
On 1 October 2015, Part 9 of the Act came into force,<ref>{{Cite legislation UK |type = si|year = 2015|number = 1689|si = The Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 (Commencement No. 2 and Transitional Provisions) Regulations 2015}}</ref> which amended the [[Company Directors Disqualification Act 1986]] to introduce:
:* inclusion of relevant foreign offences as grounds for disqualification (s. 104)
:* extension of the régime to persons instructing unfit directors of [[Insolvency|insolvent]] companies (s. 105)
:* revision of the procedure for determining the unfitness of directors and shadow directors (s. 106)
:* requirements for official receivers, liquidators, administrators and administrative receivers to report to the Secretary of State on the conduct of each person who was a director of a company on the insolvency date or within the three years before (s. 107)
:* provision for compensation orders and undertakings on persons who are subject to disqualification orders or undertakings, where the person's conduct as a director caused loss to one or more creditors during the time he was a director of an insolvent company (s. 110)
===Reporting on Payment Practices and Performance Regulations 2017===
The '''Reporting on Payment Practices and Performance Regulations 2017''', issued under the Act, came into force on 6 April 2017.<ref name=rpp>{{cite web| url = http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2017/395/made| title = The Reporting on Payment Practices and Performance Regulations 2017}}</ref> Under the rules introduced in April 2017, all large UK companies are required to publish specific information regarding their payment policies, practices and performance, including the average time taken to pay supplier [[invoice]]s, twice yearly. This information is made public in a report.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://check-payment-practices.service.gov.uk/export|title = Export data for published reports}}</ref> The regulations lapsed on 6 April 2024.<ref name=rpp />{{rp|Regulation 1(3)}}
==See also==
*[[Tied Pubs (Scotland) Act 2021]]
==References==
{{reflist}}
[[Category:United Kingdom company law]]
[[Category:Corporate directors]]
{{UK-law-stub}}