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341 – Cut out the red tape, Mr Darling

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15 November 2009

I DON’T know about you, but I’m not very good with the admin side of the business. I’d rather deal with a new story than deal with a new form.

I have a very good business mentor, Max, who keeps me on the straight and narrow – sorry, tries to keep me on the straight and narrow – but I’m sure I exasperate him with my ineptitude at carrying out some of his suggestions.

It’s not deliberate; just a question of what I see as more important.

The Pre Budget Report (PBR) is nearly upon us, due December 9th – Chancellor Alistair Darling’s chance to outline the government’s forthcoming fiscal policies – and with it comes the usual ‘calls for action’ from interested parties. All part of the lobbying game.

But from what I’ve seen this is one of the best. It comes from the Forum of Private Businesses (FPB), which wants the government to freeze new business legislation to allow a re-assessment of the burden of red tape. The FPB wants the proposed moratorium to last until the General Election – probably May time.

This strikes me as one of the more sensible ‘calls to action’. The PBR reckons that complying with regulation costs small businesses a monumental £12 billion per year and a staggering 37 hours per month on compliance.

Micro businesses (0 to 9 employees) spend an average of 33 hours per month complying with regulations, while small businesses (10 to 49 employees) 48 hours per month. Couldn’t this time be spent more profitably? Like generating additional income – maybe to increase employment?

Last week I spoke to the FPB’s Policy Representative, Matt Goodman. He told me: “The government must ensure that regulations are proportionate to their aim. We want departments to get to grips with all the various aspects of the regulatory burden on businesses and a Comprehensive Regulatory Review would provide just that sort of understanding.”

FPB member Jeanie Cartmell, who is a partner with Birmingham-based furniture and fixtures retailer Solihull Supplies, is typical in voicing her concern over the burden of legislation.

Jeanie, whose firm employs six people, reckons that the amount of red tape is getting out of hand. “It’s quite ridiculous and it costs money left, right and centre,” said Jeanie. “It’s really difficult to get through everything – it’s just very time consuming with all the paperwork. It’s so complicated and there’s a lot of time spent as a small business just complying to survive.”

Jeanie was particularly scathing about health and safety legislation where “common sense has gone out of the window”.

So come on Chancellor Darling. Review the burden. And give small businesses the chance to create employment and prosperity – not spend their time complying with nanny-state bureaucracy.

Review of business legislation

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Ralph Morton

Ralph Morton

Ralph Morton is an award-winning journalist and the founder of Business Car Manager (now renamed Business Motoring). Ralph writes extensively about the car and van leasing industry as well as wider fleet and company car issues. A former editor of What Car?, Ralph is a vastly experienced writer and editor and has been writing about the automotive sector for over 35 years.

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