This week the Conservatives’ Economic Competitiveness Policy Group will publish a significant report. The Group was chaired by John Redwood MP and Simon Wolfson and looked into ways of increasing Britain’s economic competitiveness.
As part of the review, I chaired the deregulation group. We were fed up with the way in which owner-managers and employees were spending so much of their time filling in forms and complying with, often unnecessary, regulation. So we looked specifically at deregulation for business – a pressing concern since the UK has slipped from being the 4th most competitive economy in the world to 10th!
If the findings of the group were implemented, they would save the UK economy an estimated £14bn per year whilst freeing up businesses to offer more competitive and better products. Particularly interesting was the recommendation that consumers be offered more choice in water company which would encourage the water industry to provide better customer service and lower prices.
For UK businesses to thrive, it needs a cut in the huge burden of red tape and bureaucracy they face in all areas from employment to submitting tax accounts. And of course this principle does not just apply to business but to all of us. Few things are more demeaning for the elderly and most vulnerable in our society than having to fill in complex and intrusive means testing forms and since the tax and benefit system is now so complicated, many families are being put in financial hardship as a result of mistakes made by government departments.
Any proposals which make life easier for people, whether they are in business or at home, are welcome and necessary if we are to maintain our economic position on the global stage. I commend the report to my party and hope that many of the recommendations will be accepted.
