Thousands of rules affecting businesses are to be scrapped or amended, according to David Cameron.
Speaking at the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) conference, the Prime Minister has suggested that more than 3,000 rules will be dropped or amended, saving more than £850 million a year. They include 640 pages of cattle movement guidance, 286 pages of hedgerow regulations and 380 pages of waste management rules. Cameron's aim is to "get out of the way of small business success."
If "successful" his Government would be the first in history to end a term in office with less regulation on the statute books than when it came into power. Reducing red tape, cutting business rates and scrapping the jobs tax from April 2015 were ways the Government was supporting small businesses, said Mr Cameron. Tied in with the "Red Tape Challenge", the Prime Minister has cited various pieces of legislation he thinks should go, stating, "If you want to sell oven cleaner in this country you need to have a poison licence."
Some examples of reforms that have been or will be implemented under the Red Tape Challenge include:
While business organisations broadly welcomed the initiative, environmental groups are more sceptical. Friends of the Earth commented, "The Government must stop making the environment a scapegoat for the economic challenges we face. Important rules that safeguard our health and environment are being lost in this ideologically-driven war on red-tape."
