GOVERNMENTS never go short of advice from people telling them what to do.

Lobby, or more accurately, pressure groups spanning a myriad of sectors and interests are not backwards in coming forwards with ideas on how things could be done differently. The effectiveness of this type of activity varies significantly – especially in our existing coalition structure.

For example, would we have had the recent “pause for thought” on NHS reforms without some gloves-off lobbying from within the NHS and the Liberal Democrat Party?

This week, it’s been economic policy (as well as the NHS) that has been taking another regular turn in the spotlight. The International Monetary Fund has given its view of the British economy – and in doing so passed a form of judgment on those with their hands on the controls.

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has also weighed in with its tuppence worth of advice for the Treasury. It claims small firms would employ new staff if the Government reduced National Insurance Contributions (NICs).

According to the FSB, SMEs continue to be stifled by challenges that affected them during the recession, including late payments from other firms and what they perceive to be a lack of support from the banks. Despite tentative economic growth, many small firms say these issues continue to prevent them from taking on staff.

In the midst of such unprecedented efforts to cut the national deficit, and the impact these actions have on the public sector, the voice of the FSB – and others like it – need to be heard. Not least because there are currently 2.46m people out of work.

It is surely crucial that the Government provides incentives to help small businesses to take on staff and tackle this level of unemployment. The Government introduced a NICs holiday for start-ups that take on up to 10 employees in 2010, but the FSB believes this does not go far enough. It is urging the Government to extend the NICs holiday to existing firms with up to four members of staff that take on up to three new employees. The numbers may be small – but across territory as large as the UK’s SME sector – they matter.

It’s vital that small firms are not prevented from taking on staff, as they are going to promote recovery.