legal brief business regulation
Although there’s been an understandable need for compromise between the Liberal Democrats and the Conservatives following the formation of a Coalition Government, one area where they already agree is in reducing business regulation, reports Sara Bean of Workplace Law.
Popular alliance? P
rior to the general election in May, nearly every leading business body, including the Institute of Directors and the Federation of Small Business, issued statements pleading
with the next administration to reduce the level of business regulation. The Labour Government had become
notorious for implementing a plethora of employment and health and safety regulations during its 13 years in power and significantly, even before the Clegg- Cameron deal, both parties had issued manifesto promises to curb the ‘burden of red tape’. Just before the Queen’s speech in May, the British Chamber of Commerce (BCC) published its ‘Burdens Barometer’ which revealed that the cost to business of new ‘red tape’ since 1998 had risen to £88.3bn. This is a jump of over £11bn since last year, and echoes the findings of the IoD which put the figure at £80bn. In his first major speech as Deputy Prime Minister, Liberal Democrat leader, Nick Clegg, vowed to “tear through the statute book” to get rid of “unnecessary” laws.
This was followed by a document, The
Coalition: our programme for government, which confirmed that the
Sara Bean, managing editor of the Worklpace Law Network.
Government would review employment and workplace laws for both employers and employees, and backed up the Tories’ pre-election promise to strip out what it described as the “gold-plating” of European legislation. This refers specifically to one of the most unpopular pieces of legislation to come in via Europe, the Working Time Directive, and it is said that the Government will work to limit its application in the UK. But, as Jonathan Exten-Wright,
Employment Partner at DLA Piper, points out: “As long as it remains in the EU, the UK is obliged to implement the minimum requirements of any European legislation, which will inevitably have some impact on businesses. “There is also a danger that any tinkering with existing provisions may have the opposite effect of the intended aim, burdening businesses with the need to get to grips with their rights and obligations anew.” The new Government has been able to make good on one promise already, though, not to raise National Insurance contributions by 1%. And while it may step back from imposing a string of new business regulations, property managers should
72 l Property Management Select l july/august 2010 l
www.pm-select.co.uk So while the jury is out on which areas
of business regulation can and will be rolled back, and little so far has been announced regarding the new administration’s attitude to health and safety following Cameron’s speech last year to open up a “sensible health and safety” debate, rest assured that the green agenda will continue to occupy the minds of property managers.
About the author
Sara Bean is managing editor of the Worklpace Law Network (
www.workplacelaw.net), the membership website site for UK employers and managers, specialising in employment law, health and safety and premises management.
note that environmental management, including energy and waste management, remains a top priority. In its first week of office, it was announced that carbon emissions from central government would be cut by 10% in the next 12 months to provide “strong and decisive leadership” on green issues. The Prime Minister said: “I don’t want
to hear warm words about the environ- ment. I want to see real action. I want this to be the greenest government ever.” And sure to his word, in the Queen’s speech an Energy Bill was confirmed – which proposes “to provide a step change in the provision of energy efficiency measures to homes and businesses, and to put in place a framework to deliver a future with secure, low carbon energy supplies and fair competition in the energy markets”. The Government has also said it will
seek effective global collaboration to combat climate change, including at the climate change conference in Mexico later this year.
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