UK firms have made almost £3 billion in annual savings as a result of government efforts to cut red tape.
This is according to a report from the Better Regulation Executive (BRE), part of the Department for Business Innovation and Skills. The BRE aims to encourage efficient new regulation, while streamlining existing legislation.
The BRE claims to have saved firms £2.9 billion by reducing the amount of red tape faced by UK businesses. It aims to increase this figure to £3.3 billion by March 2010, and £6.5 billion by 2015.
But business groups have insisted that the efforts to reduce red tape must go even further. Matt Goodman, a policy representative at the Forum of Private Business, said: “We would argue that more fundamental regulatory changes are needed which will create real savings for businesses.”
Red tape and ‘excessive’ regulation are perennial bug bears for UK businesses. Recent surveys have suggested, for example, that a significant number of small firms have avoided hiring staff as a result of the paperwork associated with becoming an employer for the first time.
But, while small firms rail against regulation, there are moves towards stricter rules for large companies – particularly those operating in the financial sector.
