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The creation of the Better Regulation Task Force in 1997 marked a shift away from notions of 'Deregulation' in Government and principles of 'Better Regulation' were adopted. Since then we have, however, seen a record growth in regulations the costs of which disproportionately affect small businesses and the self-employed.

The FSB report entitled Better regulation: Is it better for business reveals that: Small employers spend five times as many hours per employee dealing with regulation than large companies; Regulatory costs are five times higher per employee for small businesses; Small firms spend almost 5% of their annual turnover on compliance; and Business owners still think that the situation is deteriorating.

Carol Undy, FSB National Chairman said: "Twenty years on we are still waiting for the full scale cultural change that is needed so that policymakers genuinely consider alternatives to traditional regulation."

In its submission to HM Treasury's Hampton Review, this month, the EAMA alliance of trade associations representing 1,000 SME manufacturers, says that its manufacturing members have to employ an extra person to handle red tape. Too many of the regulations are ambiguous and a source of conflicting advice where there is a high turnover of inspectors.

Julia Moore, Chief Executive of the Gauge and Toolmakers Association, which is a member of EAMA, commented: "Finding the additional £20-50,000/year to administer new regulations and regulatory inspections can really be the final straw for small UK manufacturing companies, whose profit margins are already under such pressure from increased materials prices. Once again money that could have been invested in new equipment or additional staff, has been diverted away from increasing manufacturing productivity, into supporting administrative activities."

www.fsb.org.uk www.gtma.co.uk