“We need less red tape”, a common cry of business, but what do we actually mean by ‘red tape’; what is it we business people actually want less of?

 

As a business owner, day to day red tape issues come in the form of GST, Social Security, employment legislation, food labelling rules, company registration, Data Protection, adherence to Regulations of Undertakings and I’m sure there are a few more. The problem is in knowing what exactly we can get rid of or reduce. I’ll park Regulations of Undertakings at this point but otherwise there is very little that Government can do to make improvements in the areas I’ve listed.

 

No, I believe the real red tape issues for business are much more subtle. They really relate to the departmentalisation of decision making; inconsistency in charging for similar services; and in some cases the archaic way in which parishes work, sometimes called the “post code lottery”.

 

From those who contact me on a regular basis the biggest inter-departmental rivalry appears to exist between Planning and Building control. It would appear that despite being in the same building these departments simply don’t feel the need to talk to each other. Throw into the mix the demands of the Fire Service and it is a wonder that any new build or refurbishment ever sees the light of day. The law is one thing, its practical application apparently something completely different.

 

The licensing process also appears to be another area in need of urgent reform. Does the Royal Court really need to get involved in the licensing process? A case recently brought to my attention saw the existing licence holder moving 50 metres to a newly built premises yet still being required to get authorisation from the licensing bench which only sits on relatively few occasions a year. A simple paperwork exercise being strung out unnecessarily. Andrew Hosegood who recently went through the licensing process when setting up the new El Tico made the observation to me that “it’s easier to obtain a license for a lethal weapon than a license to sell alcohol!” Then there are the inconsistent charging levels without any explanation. Why does it cost £150 to register your company on-line, yet only £50 to do the same job with the data protection department? Who worked out that the stamp duty on a contract lease should be 1 ½% of the value of that lease? It’s those kinds of charges that can have a significant impact on the viability of a project.

 

The post code lottery and the different rules applied by each Parish Constables drive many a small business owner to distraction and again impinges in a truly arbitrary way on the success or otherwise of some businesses.

 

So what is the answer? I believe nothing short of a wholesale review of how services are delivered by various States departments is urgently needed. Within business, such a review is referred to as “Business Process Re-Engineering”. So much of the red tape that has been created over the years has grown as a result of fragmented departmental needs. In the same way that the creation of a Council of Ministers was created to speed up the decision making process, why can’t the same kind of thinking be applied to States departments? If we are to make any headway with the reduction of the £60 million structural gap predicted for 2012 then a wholesale review of how Government delivers services to the private sector and the cost of that delivery is urgently needed.

 

David Warr Small Business Group