Management's Missing Millions

The view that business, and particularly small businesses (SMEs) are being 'held back' in their development by excessive regulation is one which is expressed strongly both by Tory ministers in the previous government, by various trade organisations and to ,some extent by ministers in the present government. This has resulted in a deregulation drive by Government over the last few years, with variable success. There is little doubt, however, that all government regulation can be improved by cutting out unnecessary bureaucracy, simplifying the requirements and generally making regulation more user friendly. The real question is how far does one go in cutting out regulation and leaving control with the market place. As far as health and safety is concerned, I do not believe that regulation does unnecessarily constrain the growth and profitability of either big or small business. During my time as Chairman of the HSC we were frequently told by businessmen that 'Yes, we are in favour of better health and safety standards, but we cannot afford them'. We certainly did not at that time (in the mid 80's) have the figures to refute the statement. So, following the well known dictum: