The government regularly introduces new legislation in order to control risk and ensure that businesses are meeting the proper standards on all fronts. But over time the legislative clutter accumulates: legislation is duplicated, superseded by developments in business and society, or just amended so many times that it becomes difficult to follow the train of thought behind it.
The Red Tape Challenge initiative has promised a tidy-up of legislation across a range of business areas. Some industry sectors have been picked out for special attention, but very broadly these areas fall into the categories below:
- Health and safety
- Environment
- Equalities
- Pensions
- Company law
- Employment-related law
Within the area of health and safety alone, over 200 items of legislation have been reviewed and opened up for comment, and only 26 of these will be left unchanged. The vast majority of the items have been marked for improvement, and over 30 have been deemed unnecessary and are to be scrapped altogether. 13 of these have been repealed as of 6th April this year, following a regulation laid before parliament in early March.
While none of the 13 revoked items are headline news, this is a step towards the uncomplicated legislation that businesses need. Over the next two years, further unnecessary legislation will be revoked, and a number of significant Approved Codes of Practice (ACOPs) will be revised.
WLP can:
- Assess how well your organisation complies with regulations.
- Design and implement effective Health and Safety and Quality management systems.
- Provide ongoing support to ensure continued compliance with regulations.
If you need assistance finding the path of least resistance through the red tape, contact WLP at enquiry@w-l-p.co.uk