Despite Government promises, and the launch of the Red Tape Challenge, the Coalition's plans to reduce regulation are being ignored by many Government departments, the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has warned.
It also discovered that four departments had ignored official warnings that new legislation, including this year's rise in the national minimum wage, was flawed.
In their report, Red Tape Challenged?, the BCC claims that of the 81 pieces of new regulation that Whitehall's independent Regulatory Policy Committee (RPC) flagged this year as either fundamentally flawed or containing errors, many have been implemented without changes.
The Business Department, which leads on red tape reform, and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) had the highest proportion of regulations that contained errors but were not amended, the BCC said.
Adam Marshall, head of policy, said, "There are a lot of senior ministers working really hard to put a deregulation programme in place but some of their own departments are subverting the process."
More than 40% of the rules and regulations passing through Parliament this year were exempt from the independent scrutiny of the RPC and the Coalition's flagship "One in, One out" policy on regulations. These include regulations from Europe, tax, health and safety and environmental laws. The Business Department argued that the national minimum wage was not subject to independent scrutiny by the RPC because it fell under the "fees and charges" exemption.
Business minister Mark Prisk said, "We note the points made by the British Chamber of Commerce and will examine them with care. But we have put in place a robust, coherent, and transparent system that is beginning to change the culture across Whitehall. We're also doing everything we can in the EU to influence Commission thinking on its approach to regulation."
