A government scheme aimed at cutting the amount of time it takes smaller firms to comply with business regulations has had minimal material impact to date, a new report has said.
The Administrative Burdens Reduction Programme was set up to reduce by a quarter by 2010 the cost to businesses of dealing with government regulations.
But a report from the National Audit Office (NAO) has found that, while there has been a small positive shift in business perceptions about regulation and red tape, there has been up until now no reduction in the amount of time that firms devote to the paperwork accompanying regulation compliance.
According to the NAO report, some 46 per cent of businesses thought regulation was fair and proportionate, compared with 39 per cent in 2007, and 70 per cent said that completing paper work was a burden, down from 74 per cent in 2007.
However, only 1 per cent of businesses believed that complying with regulation had become less time consuming in 2007; 40 per cent said it had become more time consuming.
The NAO report also cast doubt on the savings so far made by the Programme. It said that claims of an annual £800 million in cost cutting should be treated "with caution" since the figures have only been subject to limited independent assessment.
Tim Burr, head of the National Audit Office, said: "The government's initiative to drive down administrative burdens on business has raised awareness of regulatory reform and departments have begun to reduce some burdens. The next step is to deliver tangible benefits for businesses. Departments need to engage more directly with businesses to focus on changes that will really help, and check that the action they are taking is having the intended effect."
Date:10 October 2008
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