WIREDGOV

The CBI commented on the Government’s legislative programme, outlined in the Queen’s Speech.

John Cridland, CBI Director-General, said:

“The test for this Queen’s Speech is whether it will help businesses to grow. Two Bills stand out for me: energy and regulatory reform. The first should help, but the jury’s out on the second.”

Commenting on the proposals, he said:

On energy:

“Let’s be clear, electricity market reform is about keeping the lights on. Business investment in low-carbon will only happen when the detailed market framework is in place. Today’s announcements are an important stepping stone.”

On employment, enterprise and regulatory reform:

“We hear a lot about regulatory reform, but the big prize for businesses would be to major on the new power for ‘sunset clauses’ on regulation and regulators. Every new bit of regulation should be time-limited and then reviewed.

“It is employment regulation where the shoe pinches for growing firms. We await the Government’s bold reforms in this area.

“But there is one new piece of business regulation here. Shareholder power is now being felt in the boardroom, and the Government should be careful that new legislation supports accountability to shareholders but does not try to turn them into micro-managers.

“To be workable, the threshold for forward-looking binding votes should be a simple, straight majority and the plans to introduce binding votes on exit payments should be dropped.”