06 April 2007
Ministers this week overhauled departmental guidance on business regulations following claims that red tape is still costing the UK £55bn annually.
Inconsistent governmental regulations had contributed to changes to the Regulatory Impact Assessment regime, announced by Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden on April 2.
A study by the British Chambers of Commerce, also published on April 2, indicated the scale of the problem.
McFadden has replaced RIAs with a simplified Impact Assessment regime, which will scrutinise legislative and red tape proposals more carefully, to ensure that they are necessary, proportionate and do not impose excessive costs on firms.
All assessments will also be placed online to improve public scrutiny.
McFadden said that the changes would introduce 'clearer guidelines for [departmental] policy makers and… should help ensure that burdens are minimised'.
A Cabinet Office spokesman told Public Finance that the new regime would, for example, 'also require departments to consider whether suggested changes to regulatory procedures were necessary at all'.
The BCC said its study exposed 'serious shortcomings' in Whitehall's compulsory RIA regime.
Researchers found that more than half of past assessments did not consider whether doing nothing was a better option than implementing changes suggested by civil servants or ministers.
Research also found that the impact of regulatory changes on small or medium-sized businesses was often not considered, as required by the government's Better Regulation Executive.
The Cabinet Office dismissed accusations of a lack of joined-up government, but acknowledged that the BCC's recommendations had influenced McFadden's revisions to the system.
PFapr2007
