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Common Commencement Date

DEPARTMENT FOR BUSINESS, ENTERPRISE AND REGULATORY REFORM News Release (2008/073) issued by The Government News Network on 6 April 2008

Government has worked to ensure that important laws come into force on only two dates per year, allowing companies to plan ahead and save time and money.

Business has estimated that up to 10% of time - or £628 million per year - can be saved through changes to the law being announced on two 'common commencement dates', one in April and one in October.

Business and Competitiveness Minister Shriti Vadera said:

"We have been working across Government to ensure that these important laws come into force at the same time. Introducing business regulations on only two dates per year helps companies to plan ahead, save money and encourages greater compliance.

"Certain regulation is necessary to provide vital protections and benefits for people across the UK.

"It also protects businesses, ensuring a level playing field, promoting competition and allowing markets to operate effectively.

"However, we do understand that regulation is a concern for business. This is why we are driving through one of the most ambitious programmes to ease the burden of regulation on business launched by any government."

Some of the regulations being brought in by the Department for Business include:
* Further provisions of the Companies Act 2006 which reduce burdens on companies. For example: private companies will no longer have to have a company secretary

* New rules will give Agency workers the rights to withdraw from housing, transport or other services provided by agency bosses. Some workers who have accommodation and other services provided by their agencies can be on low incomes and potentially vulnerable

* Entertainment and modelling agencies will not be allowed to charge models or actors fees for publications at the time they make them an offer (for example: in a casting session) and they will now have a seven day cooling off period. This will give people the chance to reconsider and help prevent hard sell tactics by agents. These changes are good for business because legitimate companies will be broadly unaffected and will suffer less from unfair competition

* Regulations will come into effect which mean that women who choose to take additional maternity leave will be entitled to the same contractual job benefits (ie. company cars) as they were in the first 26 weeks of their maternity leave. The regulations come into force on 6th April but apply to employees whose expected week of childbirth begins on or after 5 October 2008.

* Protections being introduced as part of the Consumer Credit Act 2006 include lenders having to undergo a more rigorous test by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) in order to get a Consumer Credit Licence. There will be a particular focus on high risk activities like debt collection and the OFT will have more flexible powers to tackle rogue and incompetent licence holders, providing greater consumer protection. OFT can now impose a wider range of penalties - from placing conditions on licences to imposing a fine (of up to £50,000), or taking away the licence

* The Regulators' Compliance Code will require regulators to take a risk-based approach by ending unnecessary routine inspections, as well as improving the advice and support given to businesses, to help them work within the law

In order to help companies adapt quickly and easily to the new rules, simplified guidance for implementing the new regulations has been designed with the help of business. This has been distributed through trade and professional organisations to over a million businesses of all sizes.

This is part of the Government's overall approach to promote better regulation, regulating only where necessary, doing so in a proportionate and targeted way, and reducing bureaucracy wherever possible.

The key government Departments which introduce business regulations on the 6th April and 1 October are BERR, DEFRA, Communities and Local Government, Home Office, HSE and Food Standards Agency. The new regulations can be found http://www.businesslink.gov.uk/ccd.

Notes to Editors:

1. The Better Regulation Executive is taking forward the Government's better regulation agenda.
http://bre.berr.gov.uk/regulation/

2. Examples of how individuals and businesses are benefiting from changes to regulation can be found on http://www.betterregulation.gov.uk. The site also invites suggestions for what else can be done to reduce red tape.

3. The Department for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform helps UK business succeed in an increasingly competitive world. It promotes business growth and a strong enterprise economy, leads the better regulation agenda and champions free and fair markets. It is the shareholder in a number of Government-owned assets and it works to secure, clean and competitively priced energy supplies

Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform
7th Floor, 1 Victoria Street, London SW1H 0ET

Public enquiries +44 (0)20 7215 5000
Textphone +44 (0)20 7215 6740 (for those with hearing impairment)
http://www.berr.gov.uk