DEPARTMENT FOR
BUSINESS, ENTERPRISE AND REGULATORY REFORM News Release (2009/49)
issued by COI News Distribution Service. 5 March 2009
The Government
will pilot a one stop shop for advice on health and safety and
employment legislation under new measures announced today. It
will help them to comply with the law and save them time and
money. The advice given will be backed by insurance, so
businesses can be confident in following the advice they are given.
An independent review, undertaken by Sarah Anderson, recommended
a range of innovative solutions to improve the quality of guidance
government gives to business. The recommendations are designed to
increase compliance with the law, boost business confidence in
government advice and cut costs for small businesses. The
government has today published its response to the review by
committing to take actions including:
* piloting a telephone advice service, which provides tailored
and "insured advice" to help businesses comply with
employment and health and safety law;
* removing disclaimers which bring the accuracy of guidance into
question and encouraging inspectors to avoid prosecution of
"reasonable" businesses; and
* setting out when it will update the most frequently used
guidance to comply with the Code of Practice on Guidance.
Stephen Carter, BERR Minister said:
"In the current economic climate it is more important than
ever that we help to reduce the time and money businesses spend on
compliance with regulation. Getting guidance right for small
businesses frees up precious resources which people need to run
their businesses. These new plans will give a much needed boost
for small firms, giving them clarity and confidence in government advice"
Almost half of all businesses use external advice about how to
follow regulation, spending at least £1.4 billion per year on such
services. Some 75 per cent of medium sized enterprises report
having paid for advice on employment or health and safety
regulation. SMEs are disproportionately represented in employment
tribunal applications, for example, with businesses with 50-249
employees generating 21 per cent of tribunal applications but only
accounting for 4 per cent of total employment.
In order to redress this imbalance the review focused on
improving three areas: providing certainty over outcome; making
guidance more accessible; and improving the clarity of guidance
for businesses.
Other proposals accepted by the Government include:
* a 'quick start' summary for each piece of guidance,
setting out essential actions firms must follow to comply with the law.
* a central contact point for reporting inconsistent or
inaccurate guidance, with an obligation on government to respond
and resolve the issues.
* actions to broaden the skills of inspectors so that they can
provide better advice based on the needs of businesses.
Notes for editors
1. In March 2008, as part of the launch of the Enterprise
Strategy, the Government asked Sarah Anderson to "make
recommendations on ways of ensuring firms can place greater
reliance on official guidance and thereby reduce the cost of compliance."
2. The Government response to the Anderson Review is published
today and can be found at http://www.berr.gov.uk/
3. As part of the Review research was commissioned on government
guidance from more than 750 SMEs, with face to face discussions
with more than 90 small businesses across a wide range of sectors,
sizes and at different stages of development.
4. The research highlighted that businesses had the most
difficulty understanding health and safety and employment
legislation. Firms clearly indicated that they felt government
guidance does not provide certainty whether following it means
complying with the law, that they did not understand all of the
content and did not know where to find relevant information to
help them comply with the law.
5. Small businesses face a greater burden, in terms of costs and
time spent per employee, complying with regulation. Almost half of
all businesses use external advice about how to follow regulation,
spending at least £1.4 billion per year on such services. Some 75
per cent of medium sized enterprises report having paid for advice
on employment or health and safety regulation. In addition, SMEs
are disproportionately represented in employment tribunal
applications. Businesses with 50-249 employees, for instance,
generate 21 per cent of tribunal applications but account for only
4 per cent of total employment.