Chamber members give views on red tape

BUSINESS leaders from Greater Manchester were given the chance to air their grievances about redtape to senior policymakers from the Department for Business Innovation and Skills (BIS) yesterday.

An event which took place at the Chamber’s offices at Churchgate House in Manchester focused around the issues surrounding business regulation and problems encountered by companies in complying with them.

Some of the main concerns raised were the complex and bureaucratic nature of many current laws. While businesses agreed with the requirement for regulation in areas such as health and safety and financial services, they highlighted the need for a clearer more common sense approach to the enforcement.

Roger Weller and David Roberts from the Better Regulation Executive have said that they will be using the Chamber members’ views to help inform future policy.

Commenting on the event, Dr Brian Sloan, the chamger’s head of business and economic policy, said: “It is essential that policymakers get to hear directly about the problems businesses are encountering on a daily basis.

“We know from speaking to our members that regulatory burdens and red tape remains a major cause of concerns for firms of all sizes and sectors, so we were pleased to be able to offer our members this opportunity to voice their opinions.

“Roger and David listened to a wide range of regulatory issues, which will give them plenty of food for thought.”