Department for Business, Innovation and Skills
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Red tape cuts save £800 million

Red tape cuts save £800 million

DEPARTMENT FOR BUSINESS, ENTERPRISE AND REGULATORY REFORM News Release (2007/130) issued by The Government News Network on 11 December 2007

Cuts to red tape are saving UK businesses and third sector organisations more than £800 million per year, according to a Government report released today.

The report - Delivering Simplification Plans - outlines more than 280 government initiatives to tackle red tape, more than one initiative for every working day.

Covering 19* departments and agencies, it shows Government is on target to hit its goal of saving business and the third sector over £3.5 billion in administrative costs by 2010.

Practical measures include the removal of the need for companies to hold an AGM, a faster process for planning consents, halving of the number of health and safety forms employers have to complete, and cutting of redundant licenses in a range of sectors.

Public sector workers benefited from a cut in the average length of a school inspection from five to two days and the introduction of hand-held data devices that will save individual police officers nearly an hour per day.

Secretary of State for the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform John Hutton said:

"Today's plans demonstrate we are making significant headway on what is a difficult and challenging agenda.

"By tackling redundant regulation we are making a difference to the way people run their businesses and in their everyday lives.

"But we are not complacent. Government must continue to back up its proposals with credible action across all sectors. We are also outlining ways to tackle our new target to cut public sector bureaucracy by 30 percent by 2010 in public sector."

In addition to reducing administration burdens such as form filling and record keeping government has delivered a further £700 million in savings for business, charities and the public sector. This was achieved by tackling the wider cost of complying with regulations such as investment in equipment.

Measures delivered include:

* Over 50 percent of health and safety forms which duplicated information already gathered no longer need to be submitted by businesses

* Around 60,000 private companies no longer need to appoint a company secretary, saving each of them £50-£100 each a year. This gives a total of £450,000 annual savings

* 500,000 - 750,000 private companies no longer need to hold an AGM, as part of wider changes to company laws saving £45m a year in administration

* Nearly half a million planning applications from business stand to benefit from new, e-enabled processes. Savings are delivered through lower costs (at least £120 per application) and reduced waiting times (11-13 days) and £7.2m annual savings have been delivered so far.

* Since 2006 the average length of a school inspection has been cut from five to two days. The notice period has also been reduced from ten weeks to five days, reducing the time schools and teachers spend dealing with inspections

* Police officers will continue to see improvements in their daily activities with £50m investment in the rollout of new technologies, including 10,000 hi-tech hand hand-held data devices saving officers an average of 54 minutes per day.

* The Department of Health has pledged to reduce the number of arm's length bodies that it sponsors by 50 percent from 38 in 2005 to 19 in 2008. This will free up £500m a year for frontline services by April 2008. Twelve such bodies have already been cut resulting in savings of £150m.

Notes to Editors

1. *19 departments and agencies are publishing individual simplification plans.

2. 19 departments and agencies have committed to 25 percent net reduction, and all are publishing second set of Simplification Plans. Measures delivered by the Financial Services Authority have been included in the Summary Document being published today.

3. **The Health & Safety Executive published their Simplification Plan on 3 December.

4. In May 2005, government departments agreed to cut by 25% the £13.4bn of annual administrative burdens placed on the private and third sectors by 2010. Departments agreed to set out how their Simplification Plans showing how they intended to cut red tape and give a transparent statement of progress in rolling 'Simplification Plans' published annually, beginning December 2006

5. Details on the Better Regulation Executive can be found at: http://bre.berr.gov.uk/regulation.

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