Red tape website
23 Jan 2007 - LP
Pat McFadden, the Cabinet Office Minister, is set to announce today (23 January) at IPPR the relaunch of a website for complaints on red tape. The site will allow business and lobby groups to complain about specific regulations. The government will then review the proposals, repealing some laws but if it will reject a suggestion it will explain why it is necessary.
Sounds like a good idea.... but it was tried before and failed due to the lack of interest from businesses. So why bother again? Companies have heard it many times before that the government will listen to them and will ease their red tape burden. But the opposite has happened - rules and regulations have increased significantly since 1997.
Why should companies spend more of their time contributing to a website that failed once and even if they do, it is almost certain that the government will find a reason to reject most proposals anyway.