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Alan Hawkes's avatar

Fine words, with which I would not disagree. But where is the action to match the words? In fact I would ask why do the words seem mocked by the realities? How can a company supplying water be £14 billion in debt? When is there going to be accountability for Grenfell? When they leave their offices, do our politicians go home to houses in an alternative universe? The time for this guidance from Mr Gove would have been straight after gaining a large Parliamentary majority, not when it looks likely to be lost.

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Alysen Beacon's avatar

I don't disagree with anything you have written Mr Gove, but from the perspective of a very small business (highly profitable/great productivity) it would be useful to have a steer on how to avoid the creeping tendency for our customers to insist on foisting their "standards" on us, via the audit chain, that they need to validate their own business.

As an example, we act as specialist sub-contractors for lots of larger companies, who need our quite industrial skills frequently, but who increasingly ask us to complete huge on line questionaires about corruption, race mix or migrant employment, or sex discrimination to qualify us. We have seven employees, all male except one, almost all with a high level of security clearances (Ex-service MOD), and you want my single payroll admin person to comply with 97 companies' audit processes, or pay for theirs (at a cost of approximate £1500 pa) when the value of the work they offer us is rarely more than £2000 per project. Rev up and fuck off, or reach out to develop a more considered approach. It's not going to bother us (the founders of the business) much longer as we are retiring, but we have built an awesome little business, and we'd like to leave it thriving. The work and demand is there, and growing. Brexit has not hurt too much, but the supply chain has slowed down. A less dramatic separation with the SM would have been welcome.

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