Business Services: Open/General
This theme is now closed for comment. An announcement on Red Tape Challenge plans will be made in due course.
You can read comments made on this sub-category below.
Some of the regulatory areas that apply to all businesses have already been covered in cross-cutting Red Tape Challenge themes like employment-related law. However, given the importance of the business service sector in the UK economy, we invite you to identify the regulatory burdens which you believe are hindering growth in the business-to business environment and offer suggestions on how we might improve the situation. Specific examples of how the regulations adversely affect your business are particularly welcome.
So please tell us what regulations are a problem for you, what you think should happen to these regulations and why, being specific where possible:
- Should we scrap them altogether?
- Could their purpose be achieved in a non-regulatory way (e.g. through a voluntary code?) How?
- Could they be reformed, simplified or merged? How?
- Can we reduce their bureaucracy through better implementation? How?
- Can we make their enforcement less burdensome? How?
- Should they be left as they are?
If you want to share your experience privately, then you can comment through our private inbox here. Visit the Business Services landing page here.
Hi
In my view a major issue for business is that, as part of the austerity measures, resources have been taken out of the bureaucratic system instead of removing the system itself. The net effect of this is to only worsen the burden of red tape on business.
As a practical example; rates reviews are now taking up to two years to complete and the Government has announced a further delay (until 2015) to the usual review period. I have a premises in Westminster that had its rates valued at the top of the market in 2008. It is widely recognised that these rates are now overvalued but our review has been pending since the beginning of the year and still has no expected date of conclusion. We are told that this is because there is a backlog of reviews and not enough resources to process them all. The new effect of this is that we have now had to scale back our planned capital investment and development of that site until we have an expectation of when the reduction will come through. Meanwhile we still pay the overvalued rates amount every month and are chased for payment if we are even days late despite the fact that the review process is months and months late.
Another example comes from the Border Agency. I had an excellent Australian employee who we desperately wanted to keep. On finding out the expiry point of her visa we decided to apply for a sponsorship licence to allow us to retain key foreign workers in the future. Our sponsorship licence has been pending for over 8 months with no sign of completion on the horizon.
In summary; too much bureaucracy is a problem for business but a far worse problem is too much under-resourced bureaucracy. You can’t just make cuts to these services, you have to fundamentally restructure them at the same time.Comment Tags: Red Tape
A comment on the TUPE regulations:
I work in the advertising and marketing sector, and here it is questionable whether the TUPE regulations are really fit for purpose. Often it seems the regulations achieve little more than representing a contracting difficulty between client and creative agency and a stumbling block to an effective (i.e. smooth) transition for the transfer of services from one agency to another.
A client tends to change agency because they do not like the ideas/services being produced by the incumbent team, so the last thing the client wants is for those same people to follow the services when the contract ends. It would be easier for all sides to deal with any employment issues where it arises without dealing with transfers.
The TUPE regulations need to be reviewed to assess how effective they are in different employment sectors (particularly in advertising and marketing but also generally in Business Services). Where they do not achieve the result for which they are intended (because of the employment market/ business sector), more consideration should be given to finding a way to vary their application.Comment Tags: employment, TUPE
1. One that winds me up is the four different sets of client account rules we have to follow: law society, ICAEW, FSA and insolvency. There should be one consolidating statute for client money.
2. Why is it that a qualified, registered, monitored insolvency practitioner also has to obtain a consumer credit licence to be able to negotiate on behalf of clients with creditors?.. Surely they should be exempted from the CCA rules? I know ICAEW have registered their members which is helpful but other bodies have not.Comment Tags: Accountancy, insolvency
Vat could be simplified. We are VAT registered . So why do we have to pay VAT when we purchase from a VAT registered company (we only claim it back) . Why do we charge vat to VAT registered companies (They only claim it back). We could cut the paper work by more than half. VAT inspections would take minutes rather than days. Or is this where the problem the HMRC have with this less staff for our taxes to payComment Tags: Why charge VAT to Vat registred comapnies
Repeal
With 5 years notice to replace with pro British, pro trade, simple laws, only if they can be shown to benefit trade, without regard for overseas party political adventuresComment Tags: and only replace to promote British trade., Repeal
Marilyn Jones (post of 28/9/12) is wrong to blame FENSA for the levels of red tape that now apply to the replacement windows and doors industry.
It was the extension of the Building Regulations by the government in 2002 to cover window and door installations that introduced a level of bureaucracy on window companies that had not existed before. FENSA was set up the same year to provide a more streamlined and cost-effective way of complying with those Building Regs through self-certifying.
Window installers can request an inspection from the Local Authority Building Control (LABC) officer to achieve compliance as an alternative to being registered with FENSA – bit this can be more time consuming, bureaucratic and expensive.
The window and door industry welcomed the extension of Building Regulations. It has done a great deal, with FENSA’s help, to improve the image of an industry that was pretty dire in the 1970s, 80s and 90s. Standards of product, workmanship and customer care have vastly improved and many of the cowboy operators have been driven out of the market.
Not all, unfortunately. When Marilyn finds herself up against installers that operate outside the regulations then she should remind the homeowner that they will need a certificate of building regs compliance – in most cases a FENSA Certificate – when they come to sell their home. The solicitors acting for any purchaser will ask for this documentation. If they don’t have one it is the homeowners responsibility to get an inspection by LABC to certify the work. This costs from £100 and there is no guarantee that the window or door installation will pass meaning the homeowner will be left with a bill for rectifying faulty work or having the installation done again. And they will have little redress to the cowboy installation company which could be long gone.
Its up to the whole industry to lobby government to streamline procedures and minimise red tape – a process that FENSA wholeheartedly supports.Comment Tags: FENSA
One of the biggest burdens facing SMEs is the raft of forms coming from the Office of national Statistics. Most of this information is already available to Government in respect of other regulatory forms. For example, why does ONS need details of monthly employment when HMRC already receives monthly PAYE/NIC payments? This will be even more relevant if RTI comes into being next year.
In this internet based world the ONS is no longer fit for purpose (some would argue it has never been) and should be abolished. There are plenty of other ways of extracting trade data.Comment Tags: Eliminate ONS
Ian Gillard rightly identifies ONS duplication.
Payroll statistics ought to be included with Payroll tax returns, to reduce our compliance time and costs.Comment Tags: Eliminate ONS
I live & run a growing business in south Devon which is a beautifull part of the country, unfortunately not only do the genuine tourists know this but also the downright lazy & idle. This area is becoming a sump for these people, we have countless turn up for interview that are only coming to satisfy the job centre with no intention of working, and when /if offered a job drop off the radar!!! As tehy have said to me countless times I may as well be in devon collecting my money in the sun than being in Bradford or Birmingham!
I know this is probably off this remit but how can we stop or restrict the migration of these lay-abouts which are degrading the communities down here
I have dealt for many years with MAFF then DEFRA with the certification of animals for export all over the world.
I know the procedures are long standing international agreements HOWEVER the procedures are mind blowingly overcomplicated, repetitive, pedantic, out-dated and make many people reluctant to get involved due to the high levels of stress they cause. The costs of error can be extremely high, but the complexity of the procedures makes errors far more likely. The cost of administering all this must be immense. It is surely high time to drag this kicking and screaming into the 21st Century and develop an electronic version with low cost instantaneous transmission of relevant data across the globe. This cannot be difficult – I will even offer my services to help sort it out!
Compulsory reporting of building regulations compliance through FENSA and additional compulsory Warranty insurance offer to our customers has impacted immensely on my business. I have been self-employed for nearly 35 years and always complied with rules and regulations. Since FENSA the regulatory scheme was introduced I have to keep 6 databases of customer details: 1) initial telephone call details 2) copy to lead book to delegate to sales rep 3) contract details for sales agreements 4) register insurance warranty offer to provider by email 5) FENSA register 6) own business database of customer and FENSA and insurance warranty for trace-ability. When I started in my immensely successful career in double glazing sales 40 years ago I spent 90% of my time selling and 10% on admin but over the last decade I spent 5% of my time on sales and 95 % on admin. Reporting compliance is a total waste of time as my strongest competitors are those who totally ignore regulations and work in the black market undermining legitimate businesses.Comment Tags: IMEJ