The House of Commons is about to consider the
Government’s third Deregulation Bill in three years.
Of course, if you
don’t have a strategy to address cost of living issues or to implement a proper
industrial strategy, a de-regulation policy is a very poor substitute, but it
might give you some populist media headlines.
Of course, it is absolutely right to remove unnecessary
regulatory and legislative burdens from individuals, civil society, businesses
and public bodies. But deregulating knitting yarn and the erection of public
statues will not help create one new business or good job. In fact, the
government’s own assessment of the impact of this Bill estimates that it would
only save British businesses and civil society £10m over ten years - hardly a salvation
for the UK economy.
Regulation and de-regulation has to be a continuing,
dynamic process. We no longer need laws that specify a minimum chimney size to
ensure that a small child can fit inside, but my constituents are desperate for
new regulations that would ensure that they are not persistently called when
they’ve registered on the Telephone Preference Scheme to say they don’t want
those sales calls.
Whenever you hear someone calling for less red tape, I’d
advise that you don’t just nod your head and agree. Ask them to be very
specific about what it is that they’re proposing.
I’ve been keeping a little list of the things that some
politicians and business organisations actually mean when they talk about
‘needing deregulation and cutting red tape’. It includes doing away with:
• the minimum wage
• statutory maternity pay
• the requirement to pay agency workers the same terms as
employees
• guaranteed minimum holiday terms
• all health and safety legislation
and so on.
So, if you nod your head and think these people have
splendid proposals, you might just want to think again very quickly.
