Businesses reveal their top ten most hated red tape requirements

A recent survey compiled by the Western Morning News in conjunction with Michelmores highlighted the top ten red tape requirements that business report as causing the most frustration.

Stephen Morse, Head of Business at Michelmores, provides commentary on the impact these requirements have on business operations.

The Western Morning News Business Barometer, compiled and analysed by the Business Group at Michelmores, repeatedly confirms the business community's despair at the burden imposed on it by "red tape". By red tape, I mean excessive bureaucracy, and needlessly time-consuming procedures which are imposed on our businesses, serving little practical purpose but which divert the energy and time of those whom we desperately need to be engaged full time on keeping the economy moving forward.

It's not surprising. When we first canvassed opinion to establish the top ten most hated red tape regulatory requirements, we were inundated with suggestions and it took a while to cut them all down to a simple list of ten.

The government apparently recognises the frustration of business and the damaging effect that over-regulation does to our ability to grow. In the Coalition's 'programme for government' published last May, the government promised to take "urgent action to boost enterprise, support green growth and build a new and more responsible economic model".

This included a pledge to cut red tape by introducing a 'one-in, one-out' rule, whereby no new regulation is brought in without another regulation being cut by a greater amount alongside an end to "the culture of 'tick-box' regulation".

That's the good news. Fast forward to the end of January and we find Business Secretary Vince Cable berating Whitehall for a lack of urgency in its approach to cutting red tape with business leaders openly critical of the government backing away from the introduction of so called 'sunset clauses' on new legislation which automatically removes laws that become redundant.

Far from taking real measures to cut the burden of compliance, next April sees even more regulation that could affect business growth and the willingness to invest. The abolition of the default retirement age, the extension of the right to request flexible working to parents with children under 18, and an increase in National Insurance Contributions are all under attack by responsible business leaders.

While the government's intentions are not doubted, its inability to take decisive action quickly demonstrates the extent to which red tape issues are tied up in red tape themselves, and that once a regulation is in place, the sheer inertia of the bureaucratic monolith constructed over decades makes it very difficult to remove.

What the legislators must realise is the real impact and hardship that red tape has on business. Bigger businesses can cope more easily. They have a critical mass that allows them to spread costs and divert resources to deal with these demands. The smaller, owner managed enterprises, which form the backbone of our regional economy and employment base, do not have this luxury. 

Simply put, red tape takes key people's time and energy away from generating wealth and creating employment and this isn't sitting well with the need we all have for the private sector to provide more employment to replace that which will be removed by public spending cuts.

Well named after the ribbon traditionally used for tying government documents, red tape is more than just an inconvenience - it is a real and present danger to businesses which will get throttled by it if it isn't cut back soon.

Click here to read the top ten most hated red tape requirements

For further information, please contact Stephen Morse, Head of Business at Michelmores.