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• 1. Introduction

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• BCCSs Guidelines

The government has signalled that it will take action on the compliance costs imposed on business. From 1 April 2001 all policy proposals submitted to Cabinet which require a Regulatory Impact Statement (RIS) and which have compliance cost implications for business should include a Business Compliance Costs Statement (BCCS). The aim of the BCCS is to help ensure that the compliance costs of future policy measures are fully considered in the policy process and kept as low as possible.

Cabinet Office Circular CO (01) 2 (see Annex 4) sets out the obligations on departments with regard to the BCCS requirement. These guidelines will help departments in meeting this requirement. They also provide best-practice guidance on ways to keep compliance costs to the minimum necessary when developing and implementing policy. Departments may wish to further develop these guidelines in the context of their own work, using their own examples.