South Norfolk MP Richard Bacon, a member of the Commons public accounts committee, has said that the Administrative Burdens Reduction Programme, a government scheme to reduce the cost to business of complying with regulations, is failing. Mr Bacon said :
Only 1 per cent of businesses believed that complying with regulation had become less time consuming in 2007

“The Administrative Burdens Reduction Programme is supposed to make it easier and cheaper for businesses and charities to deal with regulation, whilst leaving the protection offered by regulation intact”.

“However, the programme hasn’t actually eased the burden of red tape; it’s just made businesses a bit less fed up with it.  Now is not the time for small businesses and charities to have to worry about onerous regulation”. 

“The new Business Secretary already has a pretty scary in-tray, but I hope he will find time to get this scheme working properly”. 

Mr Bacon was speaking as the National Audit Office published its report on the Administrative Burdens Reduction Programme.  The report finds that there has been a small positive shift in businesses’ perceptions about regulation. 

46 per cent of businesses thought regulation was fair and proportionate, compared to 39 per cent in 2007.  70 per cent said that completing paper work was a burden, down from 74 per cent in 2007. 

However, only 1 per cent of businesses believed that complying with regulation had become less time consuming in 2007 and 40 per cent said it has become more time consuming. 

The report also finds that the programme’s total reported in-year savings of £800 million should be treated with caution, as they are indicative estimates of the actual savings and have been subject to only limited independent validation.

8 October 2008
 

See also::
NAO REPORT: The Administrative Burdens Reduction Programme