Cost of regulation for businesses soars to £65.99billion

The cost to business of regulations introduced since 1998 has risen to £65.99billion, according to research carried out for the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC).

That includes a rise of £10billion in just the last 12 months.

The BCC says the uncomfortable truth for the Government is that the costs keep increasing in spite of two Acts of Parliament designed to reduce the burden - the Regulatory Reform Act 2001 and the Regulatory Reform Act 2006.

The research was carried out for the BCC by the Manchester and London business schools using Government figures. The findings, known as the Burdens Barometer, lists a top ten of offending pieces of legislation.

The BCC highlights two in particular which it believes the Government should review. These are the Data Protection Act, which has cost business more than £7billion over the last decade, and the Flexible Working (Procedural Requirements) Regulations 2002 which have so far cost business £1.588billion.

Sally Low, Director of Policy for British Chambers of Commerce said: “We desperately need an Impact Assessment system that will challenge the need for regulation and a parliamentary process established that provides real independent oversight.”

It remains to be seen to what extent the Government will act to reduce the regulatory burden but in the meantime companies need to ensure that they comply with legislation relevant to their business. Failure to do so could lead to increased costs and fines.