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Business blog
Do we need the RDAs?
The Taxpayers' Alliance would like the regional development agencies abolished. M Institute co-founder Jyoti Banerjee studies their report - he likes their data but disagrees with their recommendation.
Understanding M
Mid-size enterprises are the powerhouse of the UK economy.
Despite their sterling performance, mid-size enterprises are nearly invisible.
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Conservatives challenge on regulation
The Conservative party's economic competitiveness policy review was published this month, dealing with a remarkably broad selection of topics. The report looks at the current state of transport, skills and training, regulation, energy, the public sector, ownership, and taxation, and offers extensive recommendations for each, ranging from the seemingly banal (the re-phasing of traffic lights) to the controversial (the abolishment of inheritance tax).
The proposals that deal with regulation are perhaps of most interest. Some are drastic (scrapping data protection, for example) but, overall, the focus on tackling regulatory burden is welcome. The report argues that often regulation is used to impose practices that businesses, in the interest of competitiveness, already have in place. Furthermore, it argues that some regulations achieve the opposite of what is intended: in such instances, regulation sometimes produces unintended consequences that are more harmful than the issues the regulations are dealing with.
The report proposes a governmental push for deregulation: new regulations would have to be debated before being implemented and annually reduced regulatory budgets would be given to each department.
The report advocates exemptions, where appropriate, for SMEs. Unfortunately, in M Institute’s view, the report fails to distinguish between the very different needs of small and medium sized businesses. Medium businesses usually do not qualify for exemptions and are treated exactly the same as large enterprises.
