Regulation watchdog confirms savings of £2.2bn as a result of slashing red tape
The Regulatory Policy Committee (RPC) verified over £2bn of savings for British business as a result of cuts in red tape.
The government's regulation watchdog said over the past six months the savings had been made within the scope of the government's one-in, two-out rule where if one regulation is introduced two are scrapped.
Today's announcement was part of the government's last Statement of New Regulation (SNR), that explains regulatory changes affecting business in this parliament. The regulation watchdog is made up of eight independent experts from a range of backgrounds and looks at the business of regulation versus voluntary codes.
The RPC is still waiting on information of a further 20 measures before the close of this parliament. Chairman of the RPC, Michael Gibbons, said:
We have welcomed this government’s emphasis on better regulation and the cross-party agreement on the increase in scope for the work of the RPC, in particular on the effects of regulation on small businesses.
This final SNR does not include all of the measures likely to impact on the final savings figure, yet the RPC will continue to work on validating these changes to ensure the account is as complete as possible by the end of this parliament.
The coalition government's last SNR included proposals that were aimed at protecting borrowers from predatory charges of payday lenders and cutting red tape in the construction industry.