§ Mr. RosindellTo ask the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry if she will make a statement on the(a) number and (b) cost of regulations imposed on business by her Department since 1997. [143439]
§ Ms HewittThe number of Statutory Instruments (SIs) that this Department has passed is as follows.124W
Number 1997 130 1998 135 1999 178 2000 148 2001 126 2002 109 Only a small proportion of SIs have a significant impact on business. For example, of the 109 SIs produced in 2002, 11 have produced cost savings for business and 77 have had negligible or no impact. A regulatory impact assessment is produced for all SIs that have a cost to or benefit for business, and copies are available from the Libraries of the House.
The Government are committed to regulating only where necessary and with as light a touch as possible. However, regulations are necessary for creating open, dynamic markets and introducing minimum standards. It is important not to confuse the costs of minimum standards with red tape: over 1 million workers have benefited from the national minimum wage and over 3 million people have gained an entitlement to four weeks paid annual leave.