The Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 (c. 26), also referred to as SBEE,UK Government, Small Business, Enterprise and Employment (SBEE) Act, published 25 June 2014, accessed 2 July 2021 is an act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that received royal assent in March 2015. Its contents include regulatory reform (part 2), public sector procurement (part 3) and company director disqualification issues (part 9). Its passage reflected a commitment in the Queen's Speech on 4 June 2014 to introduce legislation which would "help [to] make the United Kingdom the most attractive place to start, finance and grow a business".

Provisions Access to finance The act aimed to support small businesses by cutting bureaucracy and enabling them to access finance.Cabinet Office, Queens Speech 2014, accessed on 12 October 2025 The provisions mentioned in the long title regarding "improved access to finance for businesses and individuals" are incorporated in Part 1 of the act. This part includes provision for regulatory control over contract clauses which "prohibit or impose a condition, or other restriction, on the assignment (or, in Scotland, assignation) by a party to the contract of the right to be paid any amount under the contract or any other contract between the parties".UK Legislation, Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015, section 1, accessed on 26 October 2025 Provision for HMRC to disclose VAT non-financial registration information was included in Section 8.https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2015/26/section/8/enacted Section 8]

Business impact target Part 2 contained provision for the government to publish a "business impact target", which is Statutory guidance on this duty was published in January 2019.Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, Business Impact Target Statutory Guidance, published January 2019, accessed 5 February 2023

The relevant legislative provisions, namely sections 21 to 27 of the 2015 Act, were repealed, and the business impact target itself was abolished by the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Act 2023.

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.UK Legislation, Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015, section 39(5)(a) These sections were repealed by the Procurement Act 2023, although investigatory powers remain in place under Part 10 of the new procurement legislation.UK Legislation, Procurement Act 2023, Part 10 and Schedule 11, accessed 8 January 2024

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' specifications, being over-prescriptive for lower value procurements, complex tender documentation, and making inappropriate use of framework agreements when they can be a barrier for small businesses, and internal decision making procedures.Cabinet Office, Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill. Reforms to public procurement – analysis of responses to consultation: Question 3, accessed 29 August 2021

Company directors On 1 October 2015, Part 9 of the act came into force, 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 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. Under these rules, 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 invoices, twice yearly. This information is made public in a report. The regulations lapsed on 6 April 2024, although the enabling power in section 3 of the act remains in force.

See also Tied Pubs (Scotland) Act 2021

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