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Draft Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill published

Business Secretary, Vince Cable today presented the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill to Parliament.

The Bill aims to improve the employment tribunal system by encouraging parties to come together to settle disputes; establish a new Competition and Markets Authority bringing together the functions of the Office of Fair Trading and the Competition Commission; set the purpose of the UK Green Investment Bank; and address the disconnect between directors’ pay and long term company performance.

Mr Cable said: “Growing our economy out of a period of acute crisis is the most pressing issue for this Government.

“We want to make sure the right conditions are in place to encourage investment and exports, boost enterprise, support green growth and build a responsible business culture.

“The measures in the Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill will help make Britain one of the most enterprise-friendly countries in the world.

“It will improve our employment tribunals, reform and strengthen competition enforcement, scrap unnecessary red tape and help ensure that people who work hard and do the right thing are rewarded.”

Katja Hall, CBI Chief Policy Director, said: “This Bill offers an opportunity for the Government to set out a strategy for growth, but at this point it is light on detail in some key areas.

“The CBI will be looking for measures that will boost confidence, free up businesses, and avoid imposing new barriers to growth.”

On executive pay, Ms Hall said: “We will judge the changes proposed by the Government on whether they give shareholders the right information and powers to hold companies to account.

“The test for us has always been that changes should not blur the roles of shareholders and boards in a way that slows decision-making, or diverts management attention at a time when the focus should be on growth.”

Alexander Ehmann, Head of Regulation and Employment Policy at the Institute of Directors, said: “Today’s Enterprise and Regulatory Reform Bill offers little to satisfy those in search of worthwhile deregulation.

“The changes to Employment Tribunals are the closest that the Government gets to the red meat of the issue.

“Disappointingly, the Bill signals another missed opportunity for the Government. In a week where Adrian Beecroft’s report has dominated the news agenda, the gap between government rhetoric and actual deregulation is all too obvious.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .