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Ian Lucas said:

“The Government is delivering its ambitious agenda to change the way government regulates. This new package builds on the benefits delivered to date by tackling the immediate concerns of business in the current economic situation, and sets out a new commitment to cut ongoing costs over the longer term.

“The cost of regulation is a serious concern to business. That is why we have looked at the timing of measures to give real help to businesses now, taking out immediate costs over the next 18 months. And our new forward looking programme of regulation shows how we are delivering more than £40 billion in benefits to the economy, outstripping costs by more than four times over, before May 2011.

Business will benefit from:

· deferred costs by making use of the planning timetable for 26 planned regulations;

· increased certainty with the publication of the Government’s programme of planned new regulation over the next 18 months;

· the creation of a new, independent scrutiny body, the Regulatory Policy Committee; and

· a new target to strip out a further £6.5 billion from the costs of regulation.

Responding to business concerns about the new and cumulative costs the Government has considered the timing of when we introduce new regulations. To avoid increasing the burden on businesses 26 planned regulations will now not be introduced before April 2011, deferring costs to businesses of £3.5 billion, nearly one third of the new regulation that was planned for introduction over the next 18 months.

The Government has also set a new target to cut the ongoing costs of regulation by a further £6.5 billion in total by 2015. Added to the £3.4 billion of savings that Government is on track to deliver by May 2010, this means that UK business will benefit from around a £10 billion cut in ongoing costs by 2015.

Ian Lucas also announced the appointment of Michael Gibbons as the first chair of the new independent scrutiny body, the Regulatory Policy Committee today. The Committee will help ensure Government proposals are challenged and underpinned by robust evidence and analysis and that benefits justify the costs.

He said:

“We are committed to introducing no more regulation than is necessary and making sure the benefits outweigh the costs. To strengthen the accountability of the government’s regulatory programme, I am pleased that Michael Gibbons will lead the new, independent scrutiny body that will make sure government provides robust reasoning and analysis for its future regulatory programme.”

Notes to Editors

1. The package of measures follows on from the 2 April 2009 statement made by the Business Secretary, Peter Mandelson, which set out the way forward for the Government’s better regulation agenda.

2. The government’s new forward programme can be found at www.bis.gov.uk/frp

3. The forward programme, which will be updated periodically and is designed to provide easy to access information about planned regulations due to come into effect by April 2011, as well as a number of major regulatory proposals with significant costs beyond that date. It will help increase transparency and help business plan ahead more effectively.

4. The forward programme consists of 430 regulatory changes that may be implemented up to and including April 2011. Not all will be relevant to every business, and only around 35 are estimated to have average annual costs exceeding £20 million. The average annual benefits of measures coming into forced between October 2009 and April 2011 is £44 billion with costs of around £9 billion. The forward programme details a number of other significant measures to be introduced from May 2011, such as pensions reform, with projected average annual costs of between £10 – 15 billion and expected benefits of between £10 – 15 billion.

5. The new Regulatory Policy Committee, with Michael Gibbons as its first Chair, will begin the process of appointing three members immediately. A biography of Michael, and the full terms of reference for the new body, can be found at www.berr.gov.uk/whatwedo/bre/policy/committee/index.html

Department for Business, Innovation & Skills

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) is building a dynamic and competitive UK economy by: creating the conditions for business success; promoting innovation, enterprise and science; and giving everyone the skills and opportunities to succeed. To achieve this it will foster world-class universities and promote an open global economy. BIS - Investing in our future.

Contacts:

BIS Press Office
NDS.BIS@coi.gsi.gov.uk