Government makes limited progress towards £10bn target to reduce cost of red tape

Red tape hurting London businesses

The government’s measures on red tape are not working for businesses, a new report by the influential Committee of Public Accounts (PAC).

The public spending watchdog says the government has made limited progress towards its £10bn target to reduce the cost of regulation on business.

In one absurd finding, most of the ‘savings’ made are not genuine savings at all, but revenue generated by the new plastic bag levy.

Mike Cherry, FSB National Chairman, said: “FSB members tell us regulation is the number one issue they want this Government to focus on. As we face the challenges and opportunities of Brexit, it is vital that we bolster business productivity, and remove burdensome red tape. The Regulatory Policy Committee has an important role to play, and we want Ministers to reflect this growing role by affording it greater powers and scope.

“We support the Government’s drive to de-regulate, but we are not seeing the current full regulatory picture or evidence of changes on the ground. The Government’s Business Impact Target currently fails to capture many of the day-to-day struggles and worries of small businesses, such as taxes like the new National Living Wage. In addition, it is concerning that many government departments don’t know the cost of existing regulations. We want to see the Business Secretary pressing his Cabinet colleagues, celebrating those departments that ‘think small first’, and naming and shaming those that don’t.

“As the new Government recalibrates its relationship with business, this agenda needs to be tackled if small business owners are to trust Government wants to make their life easier. We urge the Government to act on this report so small businesses don’t feel so overwhelmed by regulation.”