Manufacturers speak out on Red Tape Challenge

The comments follow a Manufacturing Advisory Service call for the sector to speak out on the regulations they want to change. Mark Potts, development and commercial manager at Washington based automotive supplier Gestamp, said: "There are some regulations and standards that obviously must be maintained and help to promote best practice within industry. There are, however, a number of regulations which increase the burden on manufacturers without delivering any obvious benefits." He added: "I…would like to see a reversal of the lowering of both the Climate Change Levy threshold, which will penalise smaller energy intensive companies such as ours, and Feed In Tariffs, which will affect the commercial viability of installing green technologies, such as solar panels." Fellow manufacturer Zodion also called for changes to green legislation. MD John Fox said : "I would like to see a reduction in the amount of bureaucracy around 'The CRC Energy Efficiency Order 2010'. For a medium sized company such as ourselves the inconsistency of its application on our customers can present a heavy burden." Businesses will be invited to air their opinions from 21 July to 11 August under the Red Tape challenge. Click the link below to have your say: www.redtapechallenge.cabinetoffice.gov.uk.