Minister launches root and branch review of local authority-enforced regulation

Business Secretary Sajid Javid has launched a “root and branch” review of the way local authorities regulate businesses.

The review will target unnecessary burdens, “from inefficient complaint procedures to repeated visits and inspections”.

In an address to the British Chambers of Commerce conference in London, Javid said: “For many businesses, especially smaller ones, your local council is the arm of government you have the most contact with. And it can also be the source of a huge amount of troublesome red tape, much of it built up over many years without being properly reviewed and updated.”

The minister said that the review’s findings would be shared across government, going to all relevant departments and regulators.

“Its aim is to agree a set of reforms, covering both legislation and enforcement, that will reduce unnecessary costs and burdens on business,” he added.

“It all comes down to my fundamental view that government should stand behind business rather than in your way. That regulation should provide necessary protection for consumers, for employers, for employees, without making it harder for you to make a living.”

Javid said the task of making a business work got “infinitely harder when you have to deal with petty, pointless bureaucracy”.

He said he trusted businesses to get on with what they do well. “I don’t believe that you need someone from the government peering over your shoulder all the time…..You deserve a regulatory regime that’s fit for business and fit for the future.”

The Department for Business, Innovation & Skills insisted that the review would save local authorities as well as businesses money.

The Business Secretary separately announced that the Government's policy on the introduction of regulatory burdens – ‘one in, two out’ – would be extended to ‘one in, three out’.

This meant government departments that wanted to bring in new regulatory costs for things not in the Conservative manifesto would be expected to find savings worth three times as much.

The Government has also today published the results of three Cutting Red Tape reviews, covering adult social care, waste and energy.

Javid said the adult social care review found that care homes in England had to deal with inspections by local authorities, clinical commissioning groups, the Care Quality Commission, their local fire service, the Health and Safety Executive, and independent organisations like Healthwatch.

“Over the course of a year that’s 1 inspection every 8 weeks! And they often involve the same people being asked the same questions,” he said.

The Department for Health and the Department for Communities and Local Government are putting in place a new action plan to deal with the issue, the Business Secretary said. “It will make co-ordination between all those bodies the norm rather than a novelty.”

Following the waste review, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is to publish new business-focused guidance into the definition of waste and revised guidance for the environmental permitting regime.

But the Business Secretary’s announcement has been sharply criticised by the Chartered Trading Standards Institute.

Chief executive Leon Livermore said: “This is just another kick in the teeth for UK consumers who have heard enough talk and now they need action.

“The government has already reviewed trading standards services, undoubtedly found they are under resourced, and there is no reason why they shouldn’t publish and act on the findings.

“This is what they said they would do two weeks ago, in a major product recall review, but with this further review they are shifting focus from a core issue without answering any questions.”

Livermore added: “Worse still it comes after the emissions scandal, exploding hoverboards and now tumble dryers putting millions at risk - some of the biggest consumer safety issues in living memory.”