Extra red tape costs billions, say the bosses (From Hampshire Chronicle)

Extra red tape costs billions, say the bosses

3:52pm Thursday 3rd March 2011 in Chronicle Business

RED tape is placing an even greater burden on businesses, according to the Institute of Directors, by costing billions and wasting valuable time.

In a new report, it says the time company directors spend each month dealing with regulatory compliance has gone up from 13 to 17 hours a month.

It reckons a typical director spends 40 days a year on all the paperwork that is needed to meet the requirements of bureaucracy.

All that wasted time adds up to an estimated £36.8bn that the UK’s private enterprises will be spending this year, which is up from £28.2bn in 2009.

“Instead of building up their businesses and creating new jobs, the UK’s entrepreneurs are spending over a month each year handling government red tape,” said d i re c t o r- g e n e r a l , Miles Templeman.

“Some of this burden has to be lifted if we want the private sector to grow and create jobs to offset redundancies in the public sector.

“Significant deregulation of employment law must be on the agenda. We know this is contentious, but we’ve reached a point where excessive red tape is stopping many micro - bu s i n e s s e s from taking on their first employee and this doesn’t benefit anyone.”