THE Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has called on the Government to ensure that its regulations and regulatory bodies are "transparent, accountable and consistent".

The organisation, which represents more than 200,000 national businesses, including thousands across the region, believes the owners of small businessses spend too long filling out forms for the Government.

While the FSB has welcomed Government plans, contained in the Draft Regulators' Compliance Code and the Draft Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Bill, as a "step in the right direction" to reduce the red tape burden, it believes more needs to be done.

Research has found that the average small business spends 28 hours a month filling in forms - time the FSB believes could be better spent finding new customers, expanding the business and creating jobs.

Bill Keenlyside, FSB North-East policy chairman, said: "We welcome the Government signalling its intention to reduce the administrative burden on small businesses, but we have heard similar noises in the past.

"It is time for action to follow words so that small firms can spend less time filling in forms and more time creating jobs."

The FSB put forward a number of proposals during consultation on the Draft Regulators' Compliance Code and the Draft Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Bill.