Lord Young named enterprise tsar

David Cameron has appointed Tory peer Lord Young as his "enterprise tsar", with a remit to slash red tape for small business.

A "brutally honest" review by the former Cabinet minister will also consider how to encourage more people to start companies.

The Prime Minister said enterprise was crucial to his efforts to create a "new economic dynamism" in Britain, stressing that small and medium-sized businesses provided 60 per cent of the country's jobs.

"I am seeking nothing less than a wholesale change in attitude from my government, and I need help to get there," he said. "So I am delighted that Lord Young has agreed to be my enterprise adviser; he'll be working to identify what we need to do to help small businesses grow.

"He brings his own passion for business and a wealth of experience to the role."

Lord Sugar, the star of TV's The Apprentice, was the last holder of the post under Gordon Brown, but he was fired by Mr Cameron when the coalition came to power.

Lord Young, who served as trade secretary under Margaret Thatcher, said: "I'll be focusing on what barriers government policy has put in the way of small business development and helping to advise on what can be done to make life easier for businesses to start and grow."

Downing Street said Lord Young's review would focus on how government can remove barriers and encourage more people to start business, including correcting an institutional bias towards people seeking jobs, rather than working for themselves

It would also focus on ways in which government can remove barriers to growth faced by firms and remove or minimise regulatory and bureaucratic burdens which increase costs and hassle.

Lord Young will juggle his unpaid role as enterprise tsar with his other work as Mr Cameron's adviser on health and safety law and culture.