Overview

The Administrative Burdens Reduction Programme, co-ordinated by the Better Regulation Executive (BRE), aims to reduce by a quarter by 2010 the cost to businesses of complying with the administrative burdens imposed on them by government regulations. The NAO has now examined the first full year of implementation to review progress in delivering the Programme, assess achievements of departments and highlight good practice. In 2007, departments implemented over 150 specific measures to reduce administrative burdens and the majority predicted that they will meet their reduction target by 2010. The total reported in-year savings of GBP 800 million should be treated with caution as they are indicative estimates of the actual savings and have been subject to only limited independent validation.The Programme is providing an impetus across departments to reduce burdens and the targets have created a stronger incentive to deliver. The report finds a small positive shift in businesses' perceptions about regulation. 46 per cent of businesses thought regulation was fair and proportionate, compared to 39 per cent in 2007. 70 per cent said that completing paper work was a burden, down from 74 per cent in 2007. However, only 1 per cent of businesses believed that complying with regulation had become less time consuming in 2007 and 40 per cent said it has become more time consuming. The wider impact of the Programme remains unproven. The Better Regulation Taskforce's original aspiration was that the Programme could contribute to a GBP 16 billion increase in GDP. But there is still limited evidence on the link between reducing administrative burdens and improving business performance.

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