THE Government's unwillingness to make decisions on a string of motor and fleet-related issues is contributing to a belief by Britain's car dealers that the present regime is 'bad for business'. A survey of 700 car dealers by the Retail Motor Industry Federation reveals that almost half do not believe the Government is good for their business.

And Alan Pulham, director of the National Franchised Dealers Association, said: 'The problem with this Government is that it is strong on rhetoric but slow on decisions. The Government wants to move people out of cars and on to other forms of transport. It is a good theory and one that we can all support but the difficulty is that we have yet to see anything positive to help boost people's decision-making.'

The survey reveals that a third of the dealers questioned believe the Government is pro-business whereas only one in five think it is anti-business. Just over a third of dealers said their business confidence was higher than at the same time last year - a reduction since last October when almost two thirds said they had higher confidence than the same time last year.