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Businesses 'buckling' under £50bn regulations

01/03/2006

British business is struggling under the weight of regulation costs, according to the British Chamber of Commerce (BCC).

It claims that the cost to business of major regulations introduced since 1998 has risen to over £50 billion from £39 billion in 2005. In 2001 the group put the regulation burden at £10 billion.

The figures come from the BCC's annual Burdens Barometer report, drawn up by experts from the London and Manchester Business Schools. It is complied from a database of over 1,400 Regulatory Impact Assessments produced by government departments that evaluate the risks, costs and benefits of any new regulatory proposal that has an impact on business.

BCC director general David Frost said that the government must cut business costs.

"British businesses are fed up with paying for government regulation," Mr Frost said.

"Businesses must be free to compete in the global economy. As well as the increasing cost, businesses regularly tell us they are having to divert valuable time from running their businesses to dealing with more and more paperwork."

The Conservatives seized on the report with shadow trade and industry secretary Alan Duncan arguing the government had failed to deliver.

"In 1997, Labour's manifesto promised to 'cut unnecessary red tape'; nine years later it is clear that they have failed to deliver," Mr Duncan said.

"The DTI have failed to speak up for business within government. Gordon Brown talks about enterprise while his officials lay on ever higher costs."

He added: "The huge burden of extra red tape is destroying the competitiveness of British businesses."

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