The Scottish Government

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Nurturing Wealth Creation

Regulations and red tape

Bureaucracy, red tape and legislative burdens are placing onerous and unnecessary constraints on a sector which is already hard-pressed by global market conditions.

Legislation

Manufacturers from around Scotland have cited a range of legislation which cause them great concern, whether it be in terms of the volume of legislation, frequent new legislation or inconsistency of application of legislation. There seem to be few signs of any "sun-setting" of existing legislation.

The Better Regulation Task Force document, Principles of Good Regulation, lists five key principles: transparency, accountability, proportionality, consistency and targeting.

While these principles are strongly supported, there is still considerable concern that the good words expressed in Government documentation are not being translated into best practice on the ground.

Legislation should never be the first option and alternatives to regulation should be fully explored and evaluated prior to any decision being taken on new legislation.

This must be accompanied by the "sun-setting" of old regulations which should be an ongoing process, with Government listing annually the items it has been successful in removing from legislation.

Consultation

Government needs to make strenuous efforts to ensure that there is more open and transparent access during and after any consultation phase to clarify why decisions are made and why alternative or amended proposals are rejected. Regulatory Impact Assessments must also be transparent and meaningful.

Improving regulation

Government needs to be seen to be making real progress in relation to tackling business concerns regarding the plethora of regulation and legislation experienced in recent years.

There is concern that no one seems to accept responsibility for the legislative burden. Hansard records John Barrett, MP for Edinburgh West, on 10 December 2002 as stating that "responsibility for red tape and employment and environmental legislation lies with Westminster and the EU, not with the Scottish Executive. "

This said, Holyrood, Westminster and Brussels are all responsible for the legislative burden. The Scottish Executive and the Scotland Office could do much more to influence output from Westminster and Brussels and help ensure that appropriate checks and balances are in place when considering the implications of any new legislation.

The Scottish Executive should develop a more sympathetic approach to implementation by encouraging best practice and providing appropriate advice, rather than the current perceived bureaucratic approach which is viewed as being unduly heavy-handed and geared toward enforcement at any price.

Despite the setting up of the Scottish Executive's Improving Regulation in Scotland (IRIS) unit and the existence of the London-based Cabinet Office Better Regulation Task Force, there is little evidence of any real progress in reducing the regulatory and legislative burdens on business.

Enforcement

The Enforcement Concordat lists the key points of Government policy on principles of good enforcement.

This needs to flow through to a visible improvement in the enforcement climate that currently exists across a wide range of legislation, with positive advisory input to help business with the implementation of regulation.

Communication between legislators and business needs to be improved in order to simplify the bureaucracy and assist in understanding the process. There needs to be a greater simplification of documentation to encourage more positive uptake of Government initiatives.

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