Of the many criticisms entrepreneurs have levied against the government since Gordon Brown moved into Number 10, not getting their voices heard in Whitehall has been a constant gripe.

One of Brown’s first moves was the formation of the Business Council for Britain, which would advise him directly on government policies and the issues affecting UK business. But no sooner had he unveiled his plans did lobby groups chastise him for the distinct lack of small business leaders among the Bransons, the Sugars and the Leahys who would comprise it. If anyone needs direct access to the PM, surely it's the UK's 4.3 million small and mid-sized businesses, rather than those running billion-pound market cap giants who can afford to pay for lobbying anyway?

So how could small businesses get their voices heard? Not very easily, it seemed. Sean Taggart, managing director of Kent-based Albatross Travel, drew attention to this issue when the media got wind of his resignation from the government's Small Business Forum. Lauded as a means by which small firms could talk through the challenges they were facing, Taggart controversially argued that it actually served no useful or constructive purpose.

In an interview with GB in January, he said: “The issue I have is that government has the Business Council for Britain which has the highest level of access, top level, yet small and mid-sized businesses, who drive the majority of companies and employment in this country, have nothing. We have a forum that meets very infrequently at a junior ministerial level and for me you need something independent, properly resourced and with access at the highest level of government in order to give the small business community a strong enough voice.” 

But, in the run up to Darling’s first Budget next week, is the government finally attempting to claw back some lost ground with entrepreneurs? According to today’s Financial Times, the much derided Business Council for Britain is finally setting up a working group of entrepreneurs to advise it on the issues affecting small businesses.

This group will focus on the barriers to setting up and growing small businesses, the council’s chair Mervyn Davies, chairman of Standard Chartered, said yesterday, in particular how to cut red tape and support international growth. It remains unclear as to whether the working group will actually sit in on the Council's meetings with Brown, but it's certainly a step in the right direction.

Is the government finally listening? Are we witnessing the dawn of a new era where entrepreneurship is truly nurtured? With all eyes on Darling and after last year’s bombshell that the small firms’ rate of corporate tax would be increased in Brown’s swan song Budget, we’re not getting too excited just yet.