Joint letter pressing EC for sectoral redution targets

The Competitiveness Council is holding today 30 November a meeting where ways and means of speeding up reforms to the single market are expected to be discussed and perhaps agreed. A widely supported initiative from the UK, now uniting 19 of the Member States including France and Germany, is spelling out the reform agenda in a joint letter dated 26 November now published in final format, to assist VP Timmermans achieve consensus on the way forward.

A blog post dated 1 October summarizes the letter with useful comments and incidentally shows the outcome of some last-minute lobbying by the UK, including the notion that "Britain is pushing for a series of EU reforms, as the price for Prime Minister David Cameron's support for continued membership of the bloc in the "Brexit" referendum. He has called for measures to improve EU regulation, reducing administrative costs for businesses, and to bolster the bloc's competitiveness." They include the idea of sectoral targets ("EU reduction targets in particularly burdensome areas.") Our thanks to Julian Farrel for pointing out this relevant initiative. See also EC website on Better Regulation.

British regulatory watchdog publishes 5-year report

The Regulatory Policy Committee (RPC) published on 3 March a comprehensive report on its action since the beginning of this Parliamentary term. Since 2010 the regulatory watchdog has scrutinised over 1,200 regulatory proposals affecting business and civil society organisations, of which 951 became law. This resulted in the RPC issuing just over 2000 opinions on the quality of the evidence base supporting these proposals. It claims that this scrutiny led to the withdrawal or modification of draft legislation saving business £2.2 billion per year in administrative burdens.

In parallel, the RPC has just been strengthened with the appointment of four new members, while retaining its chairman Mr Michael Gibbons.

Cutting EU red tape (UK report)

Network friend J. Farrell (UK) draws our attention to a report of interest to all smart regulation watchers. BIS and the PMO have just published Cut EU red tape: one year on - progress report. This official document gives an update on what the UK has achieved in implementing each of the 30 individual recommendations in the October 2013 Business Taskforce report on reducing EU regulation.
The report also details support received for the COMPETE principles, which aim to filter out any new EU regulations or legislation that are not pro-growth. These principles (see page 8 of the Oct. 2013 report mentioned above) are:

• competitiveness test
• one-in, one-out
• measure impacts
• proportionate rules
• exemptions and lighter regimes
• target for burden reduction
• evaluate and enforce

British regulatory watchdog shows teeth

The UK independent regulatory oversight body, the Regulatory Policy Committee (RPC) has just released its 2013 annual activity report, which makes good reading for experts seeking to ascertain the possible authority of such an institution.
The RPC gives figures on how many new departmental proposals for regulatory change it has examined and how it has dealt with departmental estimates as to the anticipated regulatory costs for business and others, showing a strong determination to improve the evidence base for decisions concerning new regulation.
Excerpts from the Executive Summary:
- (the Committee) "rated 75% of first-time impact assessment submissions as fit for purpose, a reduction from 81% in 2012. The reasons for this are not completely clear. In some cases, the work may have been hurried due to parliamentary timetables. In other cases, the pressure to meet the One-in, Two-out policy may have reduced the accuracy of departmental estimates. The introduction of the fast track system in August 2012 makes comparisons between years harder, because some simpler cases no longer need to go through the full scrutiny route. This means that those subject to full scrutiny are now, on average, more complex.
- (the Committee) published four red-rated opinions as a result of departments consulting on proposed new regulations despite the RPC rating the impact assessment as not fit for purpose. "

3000 rules on business to be scrapped (UK)

The Coalition will have been the "first government in history to end its term in office leaving behind fewer regulations than existed when it came to power", said the British PM to the Federation of Small Businesses, in a conference well reported and discussed online. Watch David Cameron explain the policy and give some examples of existing "pointless" red tape which still need to be scapped on the BBC site. "More than 3,000 rules affecting business will be dropped or changed, saving more than £850m a year, he told the FSB. They include 640 pages of cattle movement guidance, 286 pages of hedgerow regulations and 380 pages of waste management rules."

EU Red tape denounced at Davos

According to the Daily Telegraph, the UK Prime Minister has renewed his attack against Brussels bureaucracy at the Davos summit: "The European Commission is so obsessed with red tape that it believes removing regulations which damage businesses is an "act of self harm". Speaking in Davos, Switzerland, Mr Cameron said that the "fight is not yet won" as he set out plans for further reforms of the European Union ahead of a proposed referendum in 2017. He said that some European Commission officials think that they are "not doing their job" if they are not producing new regulations. He added that the European Parliament is tempted to "gold plate" every piece of regulation. He said that the EU is putting a potential fracking revolution which could lead to lower energy bills at risk with "burdensome, unjustified and premature regulatory burdens". He said: "There are still people who think that the key to success is ever greater social protections and more regulations.

Impact assessment calculator

All RIA practicioners know that one of the most difficult steps in the exercise is the valuation of impacts, where statistics are not always available. That is why any help is welcome. One way of facilitating the production of figures is to support the calculations and the presentation of results, and such is the purpose of a new tool recently uploaded by the Department of Innovation and Business, the Impact Assessment Calculator, which is intended to "help policy officials to calculate the figures needed for their impact assessment. The calculator automatically generates the key figures needed for the impact assessment summary pages, using the profile of costs and benefits for each option." The Excell spreadsheet comes with instructions and a sheet for calculating each option; the figures are collected in an overview that can be copied into the RIA summary pages. The calculator also takes care of discounting and other financial operations. Though the currency quoted is the pound sterling, it seems the software could be used in any country, perhaps with a few adaptations.

New steps to support SME growth (UK)

On 7 December, the UK government published a new series of papers under its ‘Small Business: GREAT ambition’ initiative. The policy, designed in response to feedback from small business, aims to support new entrepreneurs to start up a business and focuses on small businesses who are ready to scale up their business. It sits alongside the British Industrial Strategy. The launch of ‘Small business: GREAT ambition’ is part of a wider programme of activity to promote the support available for small businesses and includes the Business is GREAT Britain campaign.

In an attractive format, with case studies illlustrating each of the objectives, the paper tackles the various dimensions of the life of a company, i.a. finding funding for growth, hiring people, developing new ideas, breaking into new markets.

UK report on EU red tape "not well-researched"

An interesting reaction to the recent business panel report (see previous post) of the of the was published today (4 Nov.) by A. Ackroyd, a labour and employment law expert on Lexology:

(excerpt) "...you might expect the report to include well-evidenced conclusions of how silly Brussels-driven bent-banana regulations are putting businesses to disproportionate expense, whilst failing to meet their intended objectives. Unfortunately, if you were expecting this, you will be disappointed (though if you have read any of the other rationales prepared by the Government over the last three years for cutting employment red tape, probably not surprised). 

The Foreword to the report proudly announces that its conclusions are based on “input from hundreds of firms, individuals and business associations across Europe”. However, by the Executive Summary (a mere three pages later) the extent of the report’s sources is drastically reduced to “some 90 UK businesses and business organisations, and over 20 business organisations across Europe” (my guess is 21). 

Not only is the extent of its research questionable, but the report’s eight recommendations to reduce employment regulations also appear to be no more than wish-lists from anonymous sources. Typical of this is the recommendation that small, low risk businesses should not be required to keep written health and safety risk assessments. This recommendation is based on a quotation attributed to “a small business organisation” (your local corner shop, perhaps) suggesting that “Removing the requirement to write down risk assessments could save businesses across Europe 2.7 billion euros”. (end of quote). Well worth reading the full article.

UK takes new aim at EU red tape

Widely reported in the media, the UK Government's new drive against EU red tape. On the strength of a report 'Cut EU Red Tape,’put forward by a panel of six business leaders including Marks & Spencer chief executive, the Prime minister will be seeking more action at EU level at the summmit next week in Brussels.
The panel which was established after last June's EU summit, has just tabled its report which includes a series of 30 recommendation to slash labour rules of EU origin, including exempting companies with less than 10 employees from all new employment laws, ending plans to compel restructuring businesses from paying to retrain redundant staff, and allowing employers to change employment contracts in TUPE-style takeover situations.
Also included: scrapping the need for small businesses in low risk sectors to keep written health and safety records, scrapping proposals on shale gas, implementing the law on cross-border services and revamping rules limiting employee working hours. The report looks at barriers to overall competitiveness, to starting a company and employing people, to expanding a business, to trading across borders and to innovation. In several areas it calls on the EU to take further legislative steps by, for example, completing the digital single market or adopting rules to cap payment card fees
In addition to the 30 recommendations, the taskforce has designed a "filter" to ensure future EU laws are not overly burdensome on companies across the continent, which relies on better RIAs and a competitiveness test to ascertain that the new regulation is indeed required.
For more, see Daily Telegraph article, Reuters and European Voice summaries. The Guardian calls for a careful distinction between red tape and useful, protective, regulation.

"Common sense" cuts to red tape (UK)

The business minister announced on 1 October an array of "common sense" measures to simplify reporting on workplace accidents and other corporate reporting requirements, and protect companies against unfair risks and litigation. The reforms coming are part of the government’s drive "to make the UK the best place to start and grow a business. They respond directly to issues raised by business, including through the Red Tape Challenge, which invites firms to give their views on which regulations should be removed or improved."  For the detail of the measures, go to the UK Government press release.

Consultation on deregulation closes 16 Sept (UK)

The Red Tape Challenge website announces a consultation launched by the Parliamentary Joint Committee on the draft Deregulation Bill, chaired by Lord Rooker, on the draft Deregulation Bill and the policies underpinning it. The Joint Committee comprises six MPs and six Peers. It will take written and oral evidence and make recommendations in a report to both Houses. The Joint Committee is required to make its report by 16 December 2013.
The Call for Evidence and the form for submitting written evidence are also available from the same page. What is the content of this bill which refers to the strong term "Deregulation" ?
(extract from the bill):"The key measures in the Bill remove unnecessary burdens on three main groups:
1/ Freeing business from red tape including by:
- scrapping health & safety rules for self-employed workers in low risk occupations, formally exempting 800,000 people from health & safety regulation and saving business an estimated £300,000 a year;
- putting a deregulatory 'growth duty' on non-economic regulators, bringing the huge resource of 50 regulators with a budget of £4bn to bear on the crucial task of promoting growth and stopping pointless red tape; and
-  making the system of apprenticeships more flexible and responsive to the needs of employersand the economy, as recommended by the Richard Review. The Deregulation Bill will remove a lot of prescriptive detail in the current legislation and clarify the employment status of apprentices.
2/ Making life easier for individuals and civil society including through:
- reducing the period for which someone has to live in their social housing to qualify for Right to Buy and Right to Acquire from five to three years, expanding their availability to a further 200,000 households; - scrapping heavy-handed fines for people who make mistakes putting out their bins;
- deregulating the showing of "not-for-profit" film in village halls and community centres, making it easier for small charities and community groups to hold "film nights"; and
- devolving decisions on public rights of way to a local level, which will cut the time for recording a right of way by several years and save almost £20m a year through needless bureaucracy.
3/ Reducing bureaucratic requirements on public bodies including:
-  removing prescriptive requirements on local authorities to consult and produce strategies; and
- freeing schools from pointless paperwork and prescriptive central Government requirements."

Decentralised, contractual policies for growth (UK)

A new "initial guidance document" (more will be published in September) dated 25 July  further clarifies the UK Government's growth policy, and how it relies on Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs), contractual agreements between local authorities and business, to deliver results. The policy had first been defined in the 'Government's Response to the Heseltine Review'. The core proposition of Lord Heseltine's report is a decentralised approach that is intended to "break Whitehall's monopoly on resources and decision making," to empower Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) to drive forward growth in their local areas. Alongside this, the report makes a number of recommendations that strengthen the underpinnings of long-term growth, from changes to the way in which Whitehall supports growth, to strengthening partnerships between government and business, and business and education. This guidance fleshes out how this process is to be enacted: "Through Growth Deals, LEPs can seek freedoms, flexibilities and influence over resources from government, and a share of the Local Growth Fund to achieve their identified growth priorities. In return, the government expects LEPs to demonstrate that they are committed to the growth agenda, including by developing ambitious, multi-year strategic economic plans. We also expect the local authority members of LEPs to prioritise economic development and work collaboratively across the LEP area."

New "Accountability for Regulator Impact scheme" (UK)

On 24 July, the UK government announced a new scheme to give businesses a stronger voice in influencing how regulators change the way they work, chiefly by improving the RIA process.

Under the new Accountability for Regulator Impact scheme non-economic regulators that are planning a significant change in policy or practice – for example, by updating guidance or inspection regimes - will assess and quantify the impact of that change on business. 

They will then share and discuss these assessments with trade associations and other business representatives before carrying out the proposed changes.

The measure is part of the government's drive to make sure the enforcement of regulation places minimum burdens on industry while delivering essential protections and creating a level playing field on which companies can compete fairly. 

This new initiative is part of the UK government's programme to make the enforcement of regulation less burdensome, along with the a 'growth duty' – a proposed statutory duty for regulators to consider the impact of their activities on growth - and a revised Regulators' Compliance Code.

Good practice: explaining the UK Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act

The UK government has published a set of documents on the newly adopted Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act 2013 (see previous post for its content). They supplement, for a wider public, the "official" dossier made available by the National Achives on legislation.gov.uk which contains the text of the Act, the "explanatory notes" and the RIA. This public information pack contains a 9-page "guide" with an overview of the content of the reform and a "policy paper" giving the rationale of the reform and what each measure aims to achieve. The objectives of the reform are defined as"cut(ting) the costs of doing business in Britain, boosting consumer and business confidence and helping the private sector to create jobs." The dossier also contains four "indicative timetables" of implementation.
This is a good example of how to communicate on legislation using the right tools and formats for each phase of the process and each type of public, for hopefully smarter regulation. A similar approach is provided by the EU "summaries of legislation".

British impact assessment calculator

A leader in RIA expertise, the UK has made further progress with the publication of new calculator of impacts, which is probably the first of its kind. While administrative burdens have given rise to several online tools (in the UK and France for instance), it is more difficult to cater for the much wider statistical needs of RIA. The calculator aims at automatically generating "the key figures needed for the impact assessment summary pages, using the profile of costs and benefits for each option." It comes as an Excel spreadsheet with pre-filled financial calculation facilities (including discounting) and consolidation in the summary sheet, with the possibility of measuring different policy options. It is not preloaded with statistical information, and could therefore theoretically be adapted for use in other economies.

Enactment of major Act on regulatory reform (UK)

On 25 April, BIS Department announced that following adoption in Parliament the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Act had received Royal Assent. This text aims to support long term growth through a range of legal, managerial and institutional measures:

• company law reforms to make sure there is a link between directors’ pay and long-term company performance by giving shareholders of UK quoted companies binding votes on directors’ pay;
• a better employment tribunal system encouraging parties to come together to settle their dispute before an employment tribunal claim is lodged;
• improved whistleblowing protection for company employees;
• new Competition and Markets Authority, bringing together the competition functions of the Office of Fair Trading and the Competition Commission; strengthened legal basis for the UK Green Investment Bank;
• implementing ideas collected via the Red Tape Challenge;
• modernise the UK’s copyright regime while strengthening copyright protections. New possibility to license orphan works; new system for extended collective licensing of copyright works;
• improve consumer protection: right to view and download the data businesses hold on them in an electronic format;
• simplify regulation through reduced inspection burdens; repeal unnecessary laws and time-limit new laws so that there are only ever relevant and necessary laws in place and extend the Primary Authority Scheme to provide consistent regulatory advice to thousands more small firms.

See the Gov site for details.

How to apply EU law without goldplating (UK)

Two very useful guidance documents have just been published by UK BIS (Business, Innovation and Skills Department). They may be of interest to smart regulators in other countries, particularly in European countries
Guiding principles for EU legislation : This publication contains guiding principles underlying the government’s approach to implementing EU measures, with a view to bringing an end to goldplating. Ref: BIS/13/774 PDF, 76.1KB, 2 pages
Transposition guidance: how to implement European directives effectively : Aimed at policy makers and lawyers across Government, this guidance gives a step-by-step method to transpose EU Directives into UK law in accordance with the guiding principles for EU legislation. It can also be referred to by, but is not binding on, officials in the sub-national administrations. Ref: BIS/13/775 PDF, 342KB, 32 pages.

"Freedom day" for UK business

The BIS Department has announced a large set of red tape cutting measures coming into force on 6 April, to achieve an additional £21 million in overheads expenses for companies. Examples of changes include moving registration and payment online and introducing a UK-wide registration system for the first time. Deregulatory changes to building regulations are part of a wider package that will save business in total over £50 million per year, whilst ensuring buildings remain safe and sustainable. These reforms also include reducing administration on low-risk electrical works, and clearer, more consistent guidance on requirements for access to buildings, glazing and protection from falling. For more, go to official press release.

"What the Budget means for business" (UK)

A good idea to present "What the Budget means for business, innovation and skills" on the occasion of this very important day. It's well worth visiting the Budget 2013 page on the official site, which summarizes seven measures, among which the last one concerns red tape:
"Cutting red tape: The government will launch a second phase of the Red Tape Challenge to help cut red tape for businesses. 1500 regulations have already been identified to be amended or scrapped. This second phase will look at the whole regulatory system – including laws, guidance, compliance, and enforcement, through short targeted reviews. We will ask businesses what specific problems we should look at before the launch in the summer of 2013."