The cost of regulation on businesses in Yorkshire and the Humber rises to £4.8 billion
The 2008 edition of the British Chambers of Commerce’s Burdens Barometer shows that the cumulative cost to businesses in Yorkshire and the Humber of new regulation since 1998 has risen to £4.8 billion, up from £4 billion last year.
Overall, the cost of regulation on businesses in the UK since 1998 has risen to £65.99 billion, up from £55.66 billion in 2007.
On a more positive note for the first time there are three regulations in this year’s barometer, which actually produce an annual saving for business. Unfortunately, they are too few and far between.
For example, the Fire Regulatory Reform Order (regulation 77 in our Barometer), has provided a saving to business of £67 million. The impact on this year's Burdens Barometer of this saving was to cut the cumulative total by one tenth of one per cent.
Whilst this is a start, every year UK businesses are going to be hit with an additional £10.4 billion cost of regulation unless action is taken.
The uncomfortable truth for government is that despite two Acts of Parliament designed to make this possible: the Regulatory Reform Act (2001) and the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act (2006), the increase surges on.
As a result of the first Act (2001-2005) the Government only issued 29 Regulatory Reform Orders and since the new 2006 Act only one Legislative Reform Order has been laid before the House: the Local Authorities Consent Requirements (Laid 25 July 2007). This compares with over 300 new regulations each year.
Two burdens from our ‘top ten burdens’ in the Barometer that the Chambers of Commerce believes that Government should review are:
- The Data Protection Act – according to the Government’s figures this has so far cost business more than £7 billion and given that it is nearly a decade old it would be a perfect candidate for Post-Implementation review.
- The Flexible Working (Procedural Requirements) Regulations 2002 have cost business £1,588 billion since 2002. Given that the Walsh Review on flexible working has already started it would be sensible to revisit regulations, which are accruing costs at a rate of £296 million p.a.
Sally Low, Director of Policy British Chambers of Commerce said: “The success of the Government’s drive for better regulation must be judged on the extent to which the UK’s regulatory burden has been reduced. On this basis the Government’s record does not stand up to scrutiny. Our Burdens Barometer figure now stands at almost £66 billion compared to a figure of £10 billion in 2001 when we first compiled it.
“Initiatives without delivery will do nothing to help keep British Businesses competitive. We desperately need an Impact Assessment system that will challenge the need for regulation and a parliamentary process established that provides real independent oversight”.
Professor Francis Chittenden of Manchester Business School, said:
“The entry, for the first time, of regulation that reduces cost to business is welcome. However, the annual costs of regulation are still rising and government must deliver much more if its promises to business are to be realised”.
Tim Ambler, Senior Fellow at London Business School, said:
"The torrential rate of new regulation may explain why the Government cannot comply with its on rules. At the time of compiling this Barometer (six months after the end of the period), 25% of Regulatory Impact Assessments were either not available or wrongly recorded."
The top ten most burdensome regulations in the 2008 Burdens Barometer are:
| Regulation |
Recurring Annual Cost |
Cumulative Cost |
| The Working Time Regulation |
£1.795 billion |
£16.005 billion |
| The Vehicle Excise Duty (Reduced Pollution) (Amendment) Regulations 2000 |
£1.226 billion |
£9.187 billion |
| The Data Protection Bill (Implementing the Data Protection Directive) |
£667 million |
£7.348 billion |
| Amendment to The Building and Approved Inspectors (Amendment) Regulations 2006 |
£1.203 billion |
£2.717 billion |
| The Disability Discrimination (Providers of Services) (Adjustments of Premises) Regulations 2001 |
£189 million |
£1.721 billion |
| The Flexible Working (Procedural Requirements) Regulations 2002 |
£296 million |
£1.588 billion |
| The Public Service Vehicles (Conditions of Fitness, Equipment, Use and Certification) (Amendment) Regulations 2002 |
£124 million |
£1.545 billion |
| The Sale and Supply of Goods to Consumer Regulations 2002 |
£285 million |
£1.496 billion |
| Control of Asbestos at Work Regulations 2002 |
£13 million |
£1.430 billion |
| Directive 2002/15/EC on the working time of persons performing mobile and road transport activities |
£423 million |
£1.410 billion |