Progress on deregulation must continue so that benefit is felt by firms

28th January 2014

Commenting ahead of the Prime Minister's speech on deregulation, John Longworth, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said:  -No business could disagree with the government's commitment to reduce unnecessary red tape.

Good progress has been made in removing domestic regulations, and the Prime Minister is right to lead a charge in Brussels to reduce European bureaucracy.   -However reducing regulation is as much about quality as it is about quantity. Removing hundreds or thousands of laws from the statute book will only have an effect if companies on the ground feel that the burden of needless regulation is lifting.   -Britain's deregulation drive must also not be derailed by costly new laws affecting firms. At present, both tax changes and EU regulations are excluded from the government's -One-in, Two-out rule for new regulations. This loophole blunts the impact of the policy. All new regulations, from whatever source, should be scrutinised and their burden minimised as part of this system.