07 June 2013

Regulations are to be cut for even more businesses in 2014, as the Coalition's ideologically driven Red Tape Challenge continues to put pressure on business and employment law.

Business Minister Michael Fallon has announced that the exemption from new regulation judged to be 'burdensome' that currently applies to companies with fewer than 10 employees will be extended to those with up to 50 members of staff from next year.

The new scheme, named the Small and Micro-Business Assessment, is an extension of the Micro-Business Moratorium that was brought in following the 2011 Budget.

Under the programme, all new regulatory proposals will be subject to a departmental impact assessment, scrutinised by the Regulatory Policy Committee and then by the Reducing Regulation Committee. Should any panel find 'burdens' within the plans for small businesses, the regulations must be mitigated for small businesses, or such companies must be exempt from them, before they can be put before parliament.

This creates a new barrier for regulations designed to protect workers, whose best interests are not always immediately conducive to higher profit margins, and demonstrates how the Coalition continues to prioritise the creation of wealth above the protection of its citizens.