New Tory Minister For Health And Safety Announced
The coalition government continues its attack on health and safety this week with announcements which confirm their 'be fair to business' mantra and placing health and safety straight into the jaws of the 'Tory Attack Dog'.
Chris Grayling MP, described in some circles as a Tory ‘attack dog’, has been given ministerial responsibilities for health and safety in the new coalition government.
The former shadow home secretary, Mr Grayling has held a number of shadow frontbench posts, including Leader of the House, Transport secretary and Health secretary. He will now report to new Work and Pensions secretary Ian Duncan Smith.
Also announced is the setting up of the machinery to abolish any regulation and stop future regulation which a government committee considers to be placing a burden on business. Returning to the Tory favourite of giving business a choice whether or not to adhere to good practice, care about its employees and act in a morally acceptable manner, regulation will be replaced by volunteerism. The Government news announcement press release said:
Announcing the strategy to bring an end to the excessive regulation that is stifling business growth, Business Secretary Vince Cable said:
“The deluge of new regulations has been choking off enterprise for too long. We must move away from the view that the only way to solve problems is to regulate. The Government has wide-ranging social and ecological goals including protecting consumers and protecting the environment. This requires increased social responsibility on the part of businesses and individuals.
This is a real challenge and it will not be easy. We need to reduce regulation and at the same time meet our social and environmental ambitions. This demands a radical change in culture away from the tick box approach to regulation only as a last resort. It’s a big task but one worth striving for.”
The action plan:
* Creates a new Cabinet “Star Chamber” that will lead the Government’s drive to reduce regulation which is stifling growth, especially of small businesses. This Reducing Regulation Committee will be chaired by the Business Secretary and will enforce a new approach to new laws and regulations, ensuring that their costs are being properly addressed across the entire British economy.
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Announces an immediate review of all regulation in the pipeline for implementation which has been inherited from the last Government. The cost of implementing this amounts to £5bn annually before April 2011 and £19.1bn per annum thereafter. This will be the first action for the new Cabinet committee.
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Establishes a new “challenge group” to come up with innovative approaches to achieving social and environmental goals in a non-regulatory way. This team would work with experts including Richard Thaler, the US behavioural economist.
* Introduces a new approach that will control and reduce the burden of regulation. A “one-in, one-out” approach, designed to change the culture of government, would make sure that new regulatory burdens on business are only brought in when reductions can be made to existing regulation.
Source: NDS / SHP
