From the BBC web site http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4450352.stm
The Govt.s representative responsible for cutting red tape is asking for help from anyone affected by over regulation and red tape.
I have told him the uncertainty caused by IR35 and S660 is an obvious problem that needs clarifying.
Anyone else?
How I plan to cut back red tape
Viewpoint
By William Sargent
Executive chair of the Better Regulation Executive
The government has pledged to reduce bureaucracy, and William Sargent is leading the team that is supposed to make it happen. Here he explains how he plans to tackle the job.
Businesses, charities and voluntary organisations have heard much talk over recent years about the Government's desire to "cut red tape".
I've certainly heard it, running a small business myself.
My reaction has tended to be 'I'll believe it when I see it,' a view widely held throughout the small business sector, which I still belong to and know well.
It's scepticism, not cynicism; the product of first-hand experience dealing with regulation and filling in what can seem like endless paperwork.
How much does red tape really cost?
From where I sit, two important things are now happening.
What does it cost an organisation in time, money and effort, to demonstrate compliance with regulation
Firstly, talk is being overtaken by action: the Government, as part of its wider drive to reduce regulation, is starting to measure the "admin burden" which regulations impose.
In other words, what does it cost an organisation in time, money and effort, to demonstrate compliance with regulation?
In March next year we'll have a very good idea, which will then be used as a baseline for setting demanding targets to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy - targets which will run progressively, year on year.
This is real action - precisely what organisations in these sectors have long requested.
They have an important part to play too, helping us measure the admin burden by participating in interviews when asked, and by actively engaging in the simplification agenda.
'I'm still a businessman'
The second important development has to do with what I can bring to the job at hand.
As a former Chair of the Small Business Council, I've been asked to bring my private sector experience to bear as Executive Chair of the Better Regulation Executive - the part of the Cabinet Office overseeing the process of reducing regulatory burdens.
I'm still a businessman; but now I also serve within government, working closely with the better regulation team at the Cabinet Office, to deliver benefits for businesses, charities and voluntary organisations.
In this, we have the personal backing of the Prime Minister and the Chancellor.
The present cost reduction project flows from the Less is More report published in March by the independent Better Regulation Task Force (BRTF).
In it the BRTF predicted that systematically cutting the cost of dealing with regulation could increase the UK's national income in the long term by perhaps £10bn annually, or 1% of GDP - a prize worth pursuing.
Whittling down regulation
The method we're using to measure the level of bureaucracy caused by regulations was applied successfully in the Netherlands and Denmark.
Many regulations are vital - to protect employee rights or safeguard the environment
We're costing the full range of regulatory bureaucracy, from employment at one end to paying tax at the other.
The Cabinet Office is running the measurement exercise across government, with HM Revenue & Customs supervising the specialist area of tax and duty regulations.
Our project, one element of the Government's wider programme of simplification, isn't an attack on regulations per se.
Many regulations are vital - to protect employee rights or safeguard the environment, for example.
Our job is to whittle down the amount of time and money which organisations spend complying.
'Join us'
I'm asking organisations affected by regulations to join us now to help measure, then cut, the level of administrative burdens.
More information is available via our "better regulation web portal" (link on the top right), which gives full details of our efforts to simplify the regulatory environment.
I encourage organisations interested in participating to email us at [email protected] . For regulations relating to tax and VAT please email [email protected] .
The Govt.s representative responsible for cutting red tape is asking for help from anyone affected by over regulation and red tape.
I have told him the uncertainty caused by IR35 and S660 is an obvious problem that needs clarifying.
Anyone else?
How I plan to cut back red tape
Viewpoint
By William Sargent
Executive chair of the Better Regulation Executive
The government has pledged to reduce bureaucracy, and William Sargent is leading the team that is supposed to make it happen. Here he explains how he plans to tackle the job.
Businesses, charities and voluntary organisations have heard much talk over recent years about the Government's desire to "cut red tape".
I've certainly heard it, running a small business myself.
My reaction has tended to be 'I'll believe it when I see it,' a view widely held throughout the small business sector, which I still belong to and know well.
It's scepticism, not cynicism; the product of first-hand experience dealing with regulation and filling in what can seem like endless paperwork.
How much does red tape really cost?
From where I sit, two important things are now happening.
What does it cost an organisation in time, money and effort, to demonstrate compliance with regulation
Firstly, talk is being overtaken by action: the Government, as part of its wider drive to reduce regulation, is starting to measure the "admin burden" which regulations impose.
In other words, what does it cost an organisation in time, money and effort, to demonstrate compliance with regulation?
In March next year we'll have a very good idea, which will then be used as a baseline for setting demanding targets to reduce unnecessary bureaucracy - targets which will run progressively, year on year.
This is real action - precisely what organisations in these sectors have long requested.
They have an important part to play too, helping us measure the admin burden by participating in interviews when asked, and by actively engaging in the simplification agenda.
'I'm still a businessman'
The second important development has to do with what I can bring to the job at hand.
As a former Chair of the Small Business Council, I've been asked to bring my private sector experience to bear as Executive Chair of the Better Regulation Executive - the part of the Cabinet Office overseeing the process of reducing regulatory burdens.
I'm still a businessman; but now I also serve within government, working closely with the better regulation team at the Cabinet Office, to deliver benefits for businesses, charities and voluntary organisations.
In this, we have the personal backing of the Prime Minister and the Chancellor.
The present cost reduction project flows from the Less is More report published in March by the independent Better Regulation Task Force (BRTF).
In it the BRTF predicted that systematically cutting the cost of dealing with regulation could increase the UK's national income in the long term by perhaps £10bn annually, or 1% of GDP - a prize worth pursuing.
Whittling down regulation
The method we're using to measure the level of bureaucracy caused by regulations was applied successfully in the Netherlands and Denmark.
Many regulations are vital - to protect employee rights or safeguard the environment
We're costing the full range of regulatory bureaucracy, from employment at one end to paying tax at the other.
The Cabinet Office is running the measurement exercise across government, with HM Revenue & Customs supervising the specialist area of tax and duty regulations.
Our project, one element of the Government's wider programme of simplification, isn't an attack on regulations per se.
Many regulations are vital - to protect employee rights or safeguard the environment, for example.
Our job is to whittle down the amount of time and money which organisations spend complying.
'Join us'
I'm asking organisations affected by regulations to join us now to help measure, then cut, the level of administrative burdens.
More information is available via our "better regulation web portal" (link on the top right), which gives full details of our efforts to simplify the regulatory environment.
I encourage organisations interested in participating to email us at [email protected] . For regulations relating to tax and VAT please email [email protected] .
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