UK Prime Minister on the Red Tape Challenge
Ed. note: This is a guest post from UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, on the Red Tape Challenge aimed at reducing regulation in UK and the accompanying LinkedIn poll and group that's been used to gather feedback from our UK members on the topic.
After just a few days, hundreds of LinkedIn users have responded to a poll asking whether their enterprise is being stifled by unnecessary red tape. The message they have sent us is clear; more than 75% of respondents told us that red tape is a problem and 30% considered it to be a major issue.
We hear that message loud and clear and we are determined that this UK Government will leave office having reduced the overall burden of regulation. But we need you, the people trying to navigate the regulatory landscape, to tell us exactly what we need to change. That's why I launched the Red Tape Challenge last year. It allows you to tell us about the regulations that are frustrating you and your business. But it is not just red tape that is hindering economic growth. Outdated regulation is also holding back our most innovative entrepreneurs. New business models — particularly those that involve doing things differently, often enabled by new technologies — are sometimes falling foul of regulations that were intended for another age, or for another purpose entirely. So I announced in November that we are expanding the Red Tape Challenge to examine, not only the regulation which affects the businesses of today, but also the businesses of tomorrow. We've already had some really useful comments ranging from the difficulties faced by new peer-to-peer lending companies, to the burdens of the patent process, and the vagaries of distance selling rules. But I want to make sure we are hearing from as many people as possible. That's why I've set up a new LinkedIn group to provide another forum to share your experiences and discuss possible solutions with a like-minded community. When you identify regulations which are not a fit for purpose, we'll put them on probation and decide which regulations should go and which could be improved.
So please, join the conversation and help the UK do business better.