VARs can help Cabinet Office to cut red tape
The government turns to channel players with paperwork and admin-busting web portal
Resellers are being strongly urged to submit proposals for cutting red tape for businesses to a government portal set up by the Cabinet Office.
The portal is part of a cross-government drive to measure, then reduce, the amount of paperwork and administration costs that government regulations impose on UK businesses and charities. However, the site, found at www.betterregulation.gov.uk, has had only 10 submissions to date.
“This portal is a convenient way for businesses or voluntary sector organisations to contribute directly to the government’s drive to tackle unnecessary regulation. We want to hear any ideas or proposals on particular regulations,” said a Cabinet Office representative.
All submissions are passed onto the relevant government department which then has 90 days to respond to the submitter.
The Federation of Small Businesses has backed the initiative. “Red tape is a big issue for our members. If you’re a large firm and you get a 21-page form to fill in you have the staff to deal with it; however, if you’re a small business a 21-page form is extremely time consuming.
Small businesses produce 50 per cent of the UK’s GDP so it would be nice to see the government cut the amount of red tape they have to deal with so they can get on with contributing to the country’s GDP. I would encourage CRN readers to submit ideas to the portal,” said Simon Briault, an FSB representative.
Lee Bevan, managing director of reseller Leapfrog Computers, said: “The amount of hoops we had to jump through to get on our Local Education Authority’s preferred list was unbelievable. It took 12 months in total. I wasn’t aware of this portal but will definitely submit something. Red tape is a huge burden to smaller firms like us.”
In addition to the portal, thousands of businesses are about to be contacted directly in an exercise that aims to identify and set targets to cut the most costly burdens on business.
“If businesses want to be involved in this exercise, they can nominate th emselves by contacting: [email protected],” added the Cabinet representative.