The Forum of Private Business (FPB) wants a moratorium on any new legislation affecting businesses and a reassessment of the impact of red tape on smaller companies.
The FPB, which made its plea a month before the Pre-Budget Report (PBR) on December 9, said the freeze should remain in place until the general election, which is expected to take place in May 2010.
Halting such laws would provide the opportunity to launch the first comprehensive regulatory review, said the FPB’s policy representative Matt Goodman. This would be along the lines of the government’s Comprehensive Spending Review.
“The government must ensure that regulations are proportionate to their aim,” said Goodman.
“We want departments to get to grips with all the various aspects of the regulatory burden on businesses and a Comprehensive Regulatory Review would provide just that sort of understanding.”
While welcoming the government’s Better Regulation agenda, the FPB warned more needed to be done to protect small business owners from the disproportionate effect of business laws.
“In order to make the Better Regulation Executive’s hard work really count, it stands to reason that we should have a better picture of what is on the books at the moment, how those regulations interact and how they are being enforced. So not just the time and effort spent by businesses on compliance, but the time spent by government departments and local authorities as well.”