Businesses received some good news at last today as the government revealed the extent of the savings it has created in a recent drive to cut red tape.
Savings of time and money spent complying with regulations have now hit £1.9bn a year since the Better Regulation Executive (BRE) was charged with leading the mission in 2005, the government said.
The BRE’s progress report lists 240 steps the government is now taking to ease the regulatory burden on business and make compliance with the law simpler and less costly, while making the implementation of regulations as efficient as possible in the first place.
According to William Sargent, entrepreneur and chairman of the BRE, the government is on track to achieve its target of slashing the admin costs of regulation by 25% by 2010, having now achieved 14.4% of this. Hitting this target will deliver an estimated £3.4bn a year in savings.
The BRE has worked alongside entrepreneurs to uncover the true scale of the regulatory impact on business and find areas which can be streamlined or otherwise improved.
“It’s about the fifth attempt over more than 30 years to really get a handle on this, and the big difference this time in that everybody’s aligned, whether it be the civil service, politicians or the business community,” Sargent told Growing Business.
Specific measures outlined in the report include the provision of online guidance and forms on employment law, saving business more than £400m a year, and example health and safety risk assessments.
Stephen A. Carter, Minister for Regulatory Reform, added: “This is a welcome estimated £1.9bn boost for businesses in these challenging times, saving time and money when it is most needed.
“Delivering better, more efficient, regulation should strike the right balance between providing essential protections and not stifling business and harming the prospects for economic growth.”
© Crimson Business Ltd. 2008