Terms of Reference
[ Last Updated 17 February 2006 ]
December 2000
Contents
Background
On 16 October 2000 Cabinet agreed to the establishment of a Business Compliance Cost Panel ("the Panel") to identify and make recommendations to Government on ways to reduce compliance costs arising from existing legislation [CAB (00) M 34/2 refers].
The Panel and its work will form part of the Government's broad strategy to improve the general regulatory environment for business. It is proposed that the Panel be the main vehicle through which the Government will receive advice from the business sector on priorities for compliance cost reduction.
Compliance Costs
Compliance costs are the costs to affected parties of interacting with government in meeting an obligation or providing a service. Compliance costs are incidental to the obligation itself and are often related to the processing and providing of information.
Objective
The objective of the Panel will be to provide advice to the Government on ways to reduce unnecessary or over-burdensome compliance costs to business arising from central and local Government regulation (excluding tax legislation). This may lead to either the amendment or repeal of existing regulation, or to changing administration procedures.
Key Outcomes of Review
The Panel will:
- identify and prioritise, through their interface with business and departments, key areas of government regulation which may give rise to potentially unnecessary or over-burdensome compliance costs;
- provide action-oriented recommendations to the Government on ways to address identified problem areas.
In carrying out its work, the Panel will have particular regard for the:
- compliance cost burden imposed by regulation on small to medium sized enterprises;
- various compliance cost reviews already underway;
- cumulative effects of regulation;
- need to promote consistency and co-ordination between regulatory regimes;
- need to promote better understanding of government regulation through the simplification and clarification of available information;
- rationalisation of information flows as raised by the Commerce Select Committee in its 1998 Inquiry into Compliance Costs for Business, in the context of e-commerce developments since the Committee reported, and the Government's recently-announced E-Commerce Strategy.
Methodology
In undertaking their review the Panel will:
- consult with those affected by regulation and those responsible for developing and administering regulation;
- encourage business organisations with a vested interest in reducing compliance cost to undertake their own research in the sectors they represent, and provide these findings to the Panel;
- where necessary use analytical tools such as cost-benefit analysis and risk assessment and have regard for resources such as the Code of Good Regulatory Practice;
- target regulation which will yield the greatest reductions in compliance costs.
Process
The Panel will report its finding and recommendations to the Minister of Finance and Minister of Commerce by 30 June 2001.
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