Life is about to
get easier for road users, businesses, and local authorities as
Roads Minister Mike Penning today pledged to slash unnecessary red
tape.
Over 400 Whitehall road transport regulations have been placed on
the Red Tape Challenge website – a Government-wide site aimed at
reducing bureaucracy - for four weeks. It asks everyone whether
they think that a regulation is well designed and provides vital
protections, or is badly designed, badly implemented or simply a
bad idea.
Prime candidates for being scrapped include:
The requirement for motorists to have a paper or electronically
issued Motor Insurance certificate. Getting rid of this
requirement could reduce admin costs for businesses and cut
bureaucracy for many people;
Regulations specifying that bus companies have to wait 48 hours
before they can throw away perishable items that have been left on
the bus;
Rules specifying the procedure that councils must go through
when installing speed humps. This includes the minimum (and
maximum) heights and the minimum number of lights that must be
installed nearby.
Mike Penning said;
“We are calling on everyone: consumers, businesses and volunteer
groups to get involved and help reduce the number of badly thought
out and obsolete regulations in our country.
“Is it right that we tell car owners they must have a bit of
paper to prove they have insured their car? Or that a bus company
has to keep the box of eggs you left on the bus for a full 2 days
before they can throw them away? And what about us telling your
local authority how high and long a speed bump should be? Enough
of the form filling!
“By getting government off people’s backs we can free businesses
to compete, create jobs and unleash a private sector-led recovery.
We will also give people the opportunity to play a greater role in
their community and build a stronger society.”
The review also targets a number of arcane and obsolete
regulations on the statute books that could run the risk of
eroding public confidence in regulations. For example, there are
regulations in force dating back to the 2007 foot and mouth crisis
allowing milk tanker drivers to work longer hours. There are also
regulations that still exist allowing road closures for the 1994
Tour de France.
Experienced ‘sector champions’ will be providing expert knowledge
during the Red Tape Challenge on the issues faced by those on the
shop floor.
Motorists’ champion Edmund King, AA president and Visiting
Professor of Transport at Newcastle University, said:
“Good road transport should be about getting from A to B in an
efficient, economic, safe, and sustainable manner. It should not
be about filling in forms from A to Z or complying with historic,
bureaucratic, and irrelevant regulations. The AA supports this
initiative to cut red tape whilst maintaining a flexible framework
to enable safe and reliable journeys.”
Freight champion Theo de Pencier, CEO of the Freight Transport
Association, said:
“There are few industries as tightly regulated as the freight
industry, so cutting those regulations that are clearly
superfluous, pointless and downright barmy will allow companies in
the sector to focus on doing their job properly in as safely and
efficiently a manner as possible, saving time and cost in the process.”
Car lease and rental champion John Lewis, Chief Executive of the
British Vehicle Rental & Leasing Association said;
“In the recent past the UK has had some prolific legislators in
Government who spent far too much time and energy using
legislation to place overbearing controls on the UK Motorist with
a never ending stream of regulations that stayed in place for
years even if their original purpose was out-dated.
“This Challenge gives people and businesses a four week
opportunity to challenge what they believe is transport red tape
and to put forward logical arguments for removing unnecessary and
irrelevant regulations, which will get listened to. Let’s make the
most of it.”
The overall aim is to remove barriers to economic growth and
increase individual freedoms. The presumption is that regulations
will go, unless it can be justified why a regulation should be kept.
Notes to Editors
1. The Red Tape Challenge was launched by the Prime Minister on
7 April, giving the public a chance to have their say on the more
than 21,000 regulations that affect their everyday lives. 2. The
Red Tape Challenge can be found here:
http://www.redtapechallenge.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/home/index/ 3.
The first five themes of the Red Tape challenge campaign are: a)
Retail b) Hospitality, food and drink c) Road transportation d)
Equalities e) Health & Safety 4. The campaign will also
have six cross cutting themes that affect all businesses and are
open throughout the whole of the campaign. The six cross cutting
themes are: a. Employment law; b. Pensions; c. Company law; d.
Equalities; e. Health and Safety; and f. Environment legislation.
5. For each sector theme, there is an experienced ‘sector
champion’ who will provide expert knowledge on the issues faced by
those on the shop floor. The champion acts as an intermediary
between the sector and Government and help to direct the web-based
debates and discussions. 6. The Government’s plan for growth is
available at: http://cdn.hm-treasury.gov.uk/2011budget_growth.pdf
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