Business Information in Government

As part of the Modernising Government white paper, published in March 1999, the government stated its aim to improve the way it dealt with business by becoming more responsive and reducing their burden.

A project known as the Business Information in Government Study (BIIG) was created by a small number of departments to explore what changes were required and how these changes could be made.


Funded by HM Treasury's Invest to Save Budget announced in January, the Study took the views of businesses and government offices along with early project experiences in other countries. The work would advise on the best approach for handling electronic business services and where benefits for business could be quickly realised. The first phase of consultation was undertaken now and input was welcomed.

The study was part of a range of Government initiatives aimed at improving services for businesses. Among the other initiatives is the new Small Business Service, aimed at pulling together the Government's support for small business and developing services with a "Think small first" focus. This study would contribute towards this and other business initiatives.

To collect a benchmark of information a sample of 1500 businesses were selected to be representative of the range of business sizes and industry. The questionnaire was available for completion on-line on this site.Alternatively for those not wishing to take part in a full survey but who may have wished to provide some general thoughts, a feedback form was also available for completion on-line.

The final report of the invest to Save Budget funded project - Business Information In Government (BIIG) and its concluding Comprehensive Business Directory (CBD) study is soon to be released and will be available on the website.

There is an information leaflet available from this site which describes the BIIG study in more detail.