The Red Tape Challenge
The Government has launched a website that offers the public,
businesses and community organisations the chance to have their say
on regulations that affect their lives.
Sets of regulations organised around themes – including health
and safety, and the environment – will be open for anyone to
comment on. Every few weeks, the Red Tape Challenge campaign will
focus on a specific set of regulations relevant to a particular
sector. The themes are typically open for 2-4 weeks. Ministers then
have 3 months to argue to retain the regulation. The regulation
will be scrapped if justification cannot be given.
A spokesperson for the Department for Business, Innovation and
Skills confirmed, however, that in some cases, further formal
consultation would be required before a regulation is
abolished.
The Red Tape Challenge is part of the Government's programme for
growth, which aims to rip up some of the 'unnecessary' 21,000 rules
and regulations that could impede this agenda.
The first five themes are:
- Retail (Pilot phase open for four weeks, began 7 April)
- Hospitality, food and drink (open for two weeks, beginning 5
May)
- Road transportation (open for two weeks, beginning 19 May)
- Fisheries, marine enterprises and inland waterways (open for
two weeks, beginning 2 June)
- Manufacturing (open for two weeks, beginning 16 June).
Announcing the site's launch last week, David Cameron said he
wanted the coalition to be the first government in modern history
to leave office having reduced the overall burden of regulation,
rather than increasing it.
He said: "Our starting point is that a regulation should go, or
its aim be achieved in a different, non-government way, unless
there is a clear and good justification for government being
involved. Be in no doubt, all those unnecessary rules that place
ridiculous burdens on our businesses and on society – they must go,
once and for all."
The Red Tape Challenge website features 131 regulations that
relate to health and safety, and can be found on the dedicated site
page,
www.redtapechallenge.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/health-and-safety
For ease of commenting, the Government has broken these
regulations into the following five areas
- Major hazard industries.
- Higher risk workplaces.
- Dealing with hazardous chemicals and materials.
- General health and safety in the workplace.
- Fire safety.
Explaining how the campaign is different to other government
deregulation drives, Business Secretary, Vince Cable said: "The
onus is now on my fellow ministers and I to justify a regulation,
rather than on you telling us to do something about it. I urge you
to visit the website and take a few minutes to tell us the
regulations you deal with on a daily basis. This is your chance to
make sure that consumers are properly protected from unscrupulous
traders, or give us the evidence we need to remove the unnecessary
bureaucracy that stops your business from growing."
For each sector theme, there will also be an experienced 'sector
champion', who will provide expert knowledge on the issues faced by
those on the shop floor. The champion will act as an intermediary
between the sector and Government, and help direct the online
debates and discussions.