Regulation red tape costs business £66bn

Red tape implemented over the past decade has cost business a combined £66bn, according to an annual report by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC).

The 2008 edition of the British Chambers of Commerce’s Burdens Barometer, an independently produced calculation of the cost to business of new regulation compiled by the Manchester and LondonBusinessSchools for the BCC, revealed that the total cost to businesses is up by £10m from this time last year.

The report reveals that one of the top business burdens is compliance with the Data Protection Act, which according to the government’s figures, has already cost UK businesses more than £7bn.

On a more positive note, the BCC said that for the first time in the history of the Burdens Barometer there are three regulations which are actually saving businesses money, but that these remain “too few and far between”.

Professor Francis Chittenden of ManchesterBusinessSchool echoed the sentiment that more needs to be done if UK business is to remain competitive. “The entry, for the first time, of regulation that reduces cost to business is welcome. However, the annual costs of regulation are still rising and government must deliver much more if its promises to business are to be realised.”

The chambers recommended that a number of burdens be reviewed, including the Data Protection Act and flexible working regulations which have cost business £1.6bn since inception in 2002.