Our 2009 survey results show that despite the efforts of departments, overall business perceptions of the overall regulatory burden are largely unchanged from 2008. Departments and the BRE need to take action in three areas:
a) The results of our survey show that few businesses feel government understands or consults well with them. Departments need to look at regulation from the perspective of the individual business, and seek to learn from businesses how best to minimise the time and cost of complying with regulation. Departments should look together at all of the regulatory demands placed on business rather than concentrating on those regulations for which each individually is responsible. Where this leads to changes that cut across departments, the BRE should take a key coordinating role in the process.
b) Identify more radical changes to regulatory requirements for example, by reviewing existing regulation to see if there is scope to remove whole requirements as well as simplifying those already in place, and considering non-regulatory means of achieving policy objectives.
c) Recognise the potential benefit of reducing the policy costs of regulation as well as the administrative costs currently targeted by the Programme, for example, by ensuring that all reviews of policies imposing regulatory requirements consider the scope to simplify both administrative and non-administrative requirements.