Cable set to cut red tape for retailers
HIGH STREET firms are set to be granted some relief from the burden of red tape, after business secretary Vince Cable announced changes to over half the UK’s retail legislation.
The Red Tape Challenge will amend, simplify or scrap 160 out of 257 pieces of regulation, it said yesterday.
The scheme, which invites people to single out harmful and unnecessary regulations, was launched by the coalition this year.
“We have to roll back the number of rules and regulations that our businesses have to deal with if we are to create the right conditions for sustainable economic growth,” Cable said yesterday.
“We have heard these promises by successive governments before but these first proposals show that we are serious and are making real progress.”
Yet Stephen Robertson of the British Retail Consortium warned that more has to be done.
“Scrapping regulations disused since World War II may make the scale of action look better but regulatory reform isn’t a numbers game,” Robertson said.
“It’s about reducing the impact. The promise to simplify regulation in several of the areas we’ve highlighted is good news but the Government must now deliver and go further.”
Firms in other sectors, such as manufacturing and enforcement, are currently being asked to suggest which pieces of regulation should be scrapped.