Motorists Get Chance To Cut Red Tape

Life is about to get easier for road users, businesses, and local authorities as Roads Minister Mike Penning today pledged to slash unnecessary red tape.

Over 400 Whitehall road transport regulations have been placed on the Red Tape Challenge website - a Government-wide site aimed at reducing bureaucracy - for four weeks. It asks everyone whether they think that a regulation is well designed and provides vital protections, or is badly designed, badly implemented or simply a bad idea.

Prime candidates for being scrapped include:

• The requirement for motorists to have a paper or electronically issued Motor Insurance certificate. Getting rid of this requirement could reduce admin costs for businesses and cut bureaucracy for many people
• Regulations specifying that bus companies have to wait 48 hours before they can throw away perishable items that have been left on the bus
• Rules specifying the procedure that councils must go through when installing speed humps. This includes the minimum (and maximum) heights and the minimum number of lights that must be installed nearby

Mike Penning said: “We are calling on everyone: consumers, businesses and volunteer groups to get involved and help reduce the number of badly thought out and obsolete regulations in our country.

“By getting government off people’s backs we can free businesses to compete, create jobs and unleash a private sector-led recovery. We will also give people the opportunity to play a greater role in their community and build a stronger society.”

The review also targets a number of arcane and obsolete regulations on the statute books that could run the risk of eroding public confidence in regulations. For example, there are regulations in force dating back to the 2007 foot and mouth crisis allowing milk tanker drivers to work longer hours. There are also regulations that still exist allowing road closures for the 1994 Tour de France.

Experienced ‘sector champions’ will be providing expert knowledge during the Red Tape Challenge on the issues faced by those on the shop floor.

(BMcN)