Snapshot of government regulation

The UK business environment is consistently recognised as being amongst the best in the world.

Government attaches particular importance to better regulation and is committed to reducing the burden of regulation on business by 25% by 2010 – a total saving across government of £2 billion.

HMG is firmly committed to better UK regulation and better policy-making disciplines to achieve light-touch, proportionate regulation that achieves its policy objectives without imposing unnecessary burdens on business.

The Department for Business Enterprise & Regulatory Reform (BERR) through the Better Regulation Executive, leads on better regulation across Government. Reviews and evaluation of legislation are of key importance to the Department in developing policy and legislation.

The Better Regulation Executive (BRE) website (www.betterregulation.gov.uk) offers the opportunity to influence the way government regulates. BRE welcome all ideas/suggestions on how regulations impacting on your organisation can be improved – whether you work in public, private or voluntary sectors.

UK Trade & Investment’s role is a proactive one of facilitating overseas investment in the UK and enabling domestic business to expand confidently overseas. As the UK Government’s international business development organisation, we help companies internationalise. Our services bring together a network of business sector specialists and support teams in British Embassies and posts all around the world.

For further information please visit www.uktradeinvest.gov.uk

There are a number of ways to keep abreast of developments in regulation affectng business, they are:

• Forthcoming Regulations – Common Commencement Dates (CCDs)

Common Commencement Dates (CCDs) are a statement of forthcoming regulations. They help business prepare for the impact of new UK legislation and increase awareness of the introduction of new or changed requirements, thus providing greater clarity and stability for business. CCDs are announced on two dates a year – 6 April and 1 October – www.berr.gov.uk/ccd

• Impact Assessments – consulting with business

Impact Assessments (IAs) are prepared as part of the process to make policy and provide an assessment of the costs, benefits and risks of a proposal. Visit www.berr.gov.uk/consultations/ia

The Department proposing the regulation identifies and assesses all the options, both regulatory and non-regulatory and determine whether the benefits justify the costs. This improves the quality of advice given to Ministers and encourages informed public debate.

• Public Consultation

Another way to keep up-to-date with and influence government policy is at the formal public consultation stage. An 'at-a-glance' look at major new consultations can be found at the cross-Government website for business. Visit www.businesslink.gov.uk/consultations

To view all Government consultations by Department or agency visit bre.berr.gov.uk/regulation/consultation/government

Better EU Regulation

Achieving a better EU regulatory environment is a key BERR priority. BERR's Better Regulation Executive (BRE) has the lead Whitehall responsibility for European better regulation.

For legislation relating to the EU, Impact Assessments (IAs) are produced by the European Commission using a rigorous methodology, which includes a test for impacts on competitiveness. Visit http://ec.europa.eu/ia

Government is also tackling the perception that it 'gold-plates' EU legislation by launching new guidance for officials to improve implementation of EU law to make UK implementing legislation as light-touch as possible – keeping burdens on businesses to a minimum – www.berr.gov.uk/better-eu-reg

The European Commission website offers you the opportunity to contribute directly to improving the quality of legislation. Your input will be taken into account in the preparation of EU measures reducing administrative burdens.

Visit http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/admin-burdens-reduction Contributions and feedback from the European Commission will be summarised in periodic reports published on the site.

DID YOU KNOW…?

• you can register with Business Link (businesslink.gov.uk/regulationchecklist) and set-up a checklist of regulations that impact on your business

• e-mail alerts can be sent direct to your inbox notifying you of regulation changes. A 'What's new?' section shows regulation updates online – businesslink.gov.uk/regulationupdates