Clause 72
Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Bill [Lords]
1:15 pm
Mark Prisk (Shadow Minister, Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform; Hertford and Stortford, Conservative)
I welcome the Minister’s remarks. Indeed, I welcome what is in effect a new duty to keep the regulatory function under review and for regulators of the various hues that we have been considering under this legislation not to impose an unnecessary regulatory burden. It is fair to say that the clause has changed quite remarkably from the original drafts that I saw in early forms of the Bill that were considered in the other place. I commend the other place for the work that it did.
I also welcome the recognition of the need to remove such burdens, which is noted in subsection (2). However, I note that the regulator, whoever that may be in any circumstance, will still be left to decide, first, what is or is not, in their view, burdensome, and secondly, whether its removal would be impracticable or disproportionate. The requirement to publish an explanatory statement is fine in itself, but I am disappointed that notably lacking is a clear statement, a requirement—I did not hear this in the Minister’s remarks—for direct consultation and/or involvement of business in determining whether a regulatory burden is unnecessary.
This is a missed opportunity, if I may say so. I hope that the Minister will correct that in replying to the debate. I suspect that to rely on regulators regulating themselves is not likely to deliver the significant change that we would all like in this area. Understandably, given the general circumstances politically, Ministers are talking a great deal about wanting to listen to business and to reduce the regulatory burden—heaven knows, with the state of the economy, that is long overdue—yet they have missed this opportunity to do so. Often it is the regulated, not the regulator, who is best able to judge what is an unnecessary or disproportionate burden. The Minister will probably retort that, by using the Hampton principles, here embedded in the Bill, the regulators will be able to make that assessment. However, to fail to enable business to affect the decisions is a serious omission.
I am particularly concerned for small businesses. Both sides of the House agree that regulations have a disproportionate impact on the smallest businesses. The Federation of Small Businesses tells us that the average small business spends seven hours a week complying with Government red tape and regulation. Given that there are 4.4 million small businesses in the UK, that is an extraordinary waste of what could be highly productive time.