Government ministers are at odds over plans to promote equity in the private sector, it has been claimed.

According to a report in the Financial Times (FT), chancellor Alistair Darling is resisting plans by equality minister Harriet Harman to promote gender and racial equality through a change to procurement rules for firms that supply services to the government.

The newspaper states that Mr Darling opposes such changes as they will harm government plans to cut red tape and offer more contacts to SMEs.

Speaking to the FT, a Treasury insider said: "Value for money is our key procurement objective.

"We don't want to be putting on regulatory burdens and increasing costs in all this, and we don’t want to discourage small businesses."

However, it seems that Ms Harman is keen to push ahead with the reforms and believes that the move will not require further legislation.

Recently, the government announced that it is considering a system of regulatory budgets in an attempt to cut bureaucracy.

RELATED ARTICLES:

• 'Action needed on payment term changes'
• SMEs 'need £1bn survival fund'
• Awarding government contracts to SMEs 'will boost the economy'
• 'Stick the to rules' fined boss urges
• Government's bank bail-out 'must help SMEs'