Cost of red tape 'up £10bn in year'

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The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said the cumulative cost to firms of new regulations since 1998 had jumped to £76 billion.

Companies were hit with 19 new regulations in the past year costing them £1.75 billion, with working time regulations among the most burdensome measures, said the BCC.

There was some praise for the Government in the report, which said 18 regulations introduced since 1998 were now producing savings for business, including the 2006 Companies Act and the Employment Bill, said the BCC.

Director general David Frost said: "Businesses are facing the toughest economic environment for a generation. Company cash-flow is being squeezed and unemployment is growing as a result.

"The government needs to get serious about reducing the massive burden of regulation on business. Cutting unnecessary burdens and announcing a moratorium on new regulations set to come in this year, is one way of providing instant and inexpensive help to British firms."

But TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: "This tired stunt is well past its sell-by date. Of course regulations need to be well-drafted and suit today's conditions, but too often what the BCC call a burden on business the rest of us would call basic rights in a modern civilised society.

"Their biggest complaint is working time rules. That might sound bureaucratic but in plain English this is the right for everyone at work to have four weeks paid holiday a year. What business calls red tape, the rest of us call a well-earned rest.

"I suppose we should be grateful that the BCC haven't added in the cumulative costs of the abolition of slavery and stopping children cleaning chimneys."