Government wants your views!
The Red Tape Challenge, where the Government invites our opinions on existing regulations, has moved into the maritime sector and will remain open to us until 8 December.
The aim of the challenge is to ‘promote open discussion of the ways in which the aims of existing regulation can be fulfilled in the least burdensome way possible’.
With the focus now on the maritime sector the Department for Transport wants to gather thoughts and ideas from those who deal with regulations on a day-to-day basis on which regulations should stay, which could be merged, which can be scrapped and so on.
The RYA is particularly keen that boat owners should become involved. Their Head of Government Affairs, Gus Lewis, said: ‘This is a great opportunity for us all, from clubs and training centres, to volunteers and boaters and the RYA to let Government know what we think about existing regulation and its impact upon our activities.
‘As a preliminary to the Red Tape Challenge opening publicly the RYA met informally with the Maritime Coastguard Agency (MCA) and the Department for Transport to discuss the process and to enable us to identify where the RYA’s intervention might be most effective.
‘The RYA believes that any legislation or regulation should be transparent, accountable, proportionate and consistent and only targeted at cases where sound risk and evidence analysis demonstrates that such action is needed.’
Mr Lewis concluded: ‘This process gives us a unique opportunity to challenge those regulations that do not satisfy these criteria and in doing so to set a benchmark against which future legislative proposals might be measured.’
At the end of the period Ministers will have three months to decide what action they will take in light of the experience and ideas they have received from the sector.
The Government’s Red Tape Challenge, which will be conducted across all departments and sectors, started in April 2011 and will run until April 2013.
To let Government know what you think go to the Red Tape Challenge website and join the debate.
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Image: Creative Commons/Pizarros