Coalition caps regulatory burden
By politics.co.uk staff
Businesses and the third sector will not face additional regulatory burdens from September 1st under the coalition government’s ‘one-in, one-out’ rule.
A set of ‘principles of regulation’ is to be imposed on government departments from next month which will force ministers to remove regulations with an equivalent value if they want to introduce new ones.
“We have to move quickly delivering credible and meaningful reductions in the burdens that hinder hard-pressed businesses and charities. We have to create a common sense approach in the way we think about new laws,” business secretary Vince Cable said.
“By ensuring regulation becomes a last resort, we will create an environment that frees business from the burden of red tape, helping to create the right conditions for recovery and growth in the UK economy.”
The system will be expanded beyond its initial focus, on domestic legislation affecting businesses and the third sector, “in due course”.
It will not affect all new regulations, however. Those introduced in response to emergencies or to address systemic financial risks will be exempted, allowing the government to increase the regulatory burden on the financial sector.
Today’s announcement is one of a number of deregulatory measures on the coalition government’s agenda.
It plans to review the range of regulatory factors considered in company takeovers and is encouraging members of the public to nominate laws or regulations they want to see scrapped.
