Survey Finds Up To GBP820,000 In Red Tape Costs

The British Coatings Federation (BCF) and its members are participating in the UK Government's Better Regulation initiative investigating the legislative burden on companies.

The British Coatings Federation (BCF) and its members are participating in the UK Government's Better Regulation initiative investigating the legislative burden on companies.

The pilot stage of the project has now been completed and the summary report submitted to the Department for Trade and Industry (DTI).

From the first small sample obtained by the BCF, the total annual costs on companies resulting from legislative matters ranged from GBP90,000 to GBP820,000 and averaged GBP233,000, per company.

The costs of unnecessary regulation proved harder to estimate, but BCF said that initial estimates indicated costs of up to GBP120,000 per annum per company.

The two-part study, initiated by the Chemicals Regulatory Forum (CRF), is being undertaken on behalf of the DTI and the Government's Cabinet Office, by consultants London Economics/RPA.

The study is looking at the cumulative impact of safety, health and environmental regulations on the coatings, aerosols and speciality chemicals sectors.

The first part of the study, which involved 10 companies, two of whom were BCF members, was used to test the questionnaire and the ease with which the companies were able to provide the required information with little cost or resource requirement on themselves.

The pilot proved successful and the full study will now go ahead, using responses from at least 40 firms, ranging in size from SMEs to multi-nationals.

BCF chief executive officer, Moira McMillan, commented: "The coatings industry is pleased to have been chosen as one of those sectors being studied and the BCF is grateful to the members who were interviewed in the pilot study.

Now that the full study is going ahead we are keen to encourage other companies in the coatings sector, both members and non-members, to get involved.".

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