‘Box-ticking rules hold Britain back’

RED tape and box-ticking regulators are pushing up prices instead of protecting the public, research claims.

A study backed by former Cabinet minister Sir Oliver Letwin has highlighted thousands of rules that are holding Britain back.

They are driving away childminders, blocking the building of 100,000 homes and pushing up business costs, said think-tank Policy Exchange.

It added: “Regulations are an indispensable part of life. When working well, they institute important protections for individuals, ensure a level playing field within markets, and incentivise activity and innovation that will benefit society as a whole.

“Yet the existing regulatory framework is blighting the lives of practitioners, passing on significant costs to endusers and customers, and setting limits on the potential of the economy.”

Examples include:

Childminder restrictions that require practitioners to go on to three separate registers;

Regulations on window heights which hold up housebuilding and make it more difficult for developers to build homes that fit into local styles;

A licensing regime for HGV drivers that is far more stringent than European equivalents, exacerbating a shortage of delivery drivers;

Medicine regulations that discourage the development of cutting-edge products.

The report also highlights NHS paperwork, warning that 50 steps need to be taken in order to discharge a patient from hospital.

Former Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, Sir

Oliver, writing in the report’s foreword, stated: “A well-regulated economy is one in which economic actors are prevented from causing undue social and environmental harm without being unduly prevented from doing economic good.

“A well-regulating state is one which finds the means of delivering these regulatory outcomes instead of falling prey to the illusion that mere tick-box adherence to rules is a substitute for the achievement of human progress.”

Policy Exchange called for every watchdog to appoint a dedicated executive to develop “smarter” regulation.

Bim Afolami, of the Regulatory Reform Group of Tory MPS, said: “Regulations – often introduced with the best intentions – are imposing considerable costs on individuals, businesses and society as a whole.”

The MP for Hitchin and Harpenden added: “Post-brexit, we require a fundamental rethink of how we approach our regulatory regime, and a renewed focus on securing the best outcomes.”