Small businesses in manufacturing face £1.2bn bill for regulation

Research carried out by business lobby and support group the Forum of Private Business (FPB) claims to have found that Britain's small and medium-sized (SME) manufacturers face a £1,230 million annual bill to comply with legislation. The figure, derived from the results of the FPB's quarterly Referendum survey of members, is based on the amount of company time, and therefore money, spent on government-imposed bureaucracy. It was. It found that recession-hit manufacturers are forced to spend an average of 35 hours of company time each month on form-filling and paperwork. Manufacturers with nine or fewer employees spend an average of 27 hours, those with between 10 and 50 employees spent around 50 hours and firms with up to 249 workers devote approximately 131 hours. In terms of costs, complying with health and safety legislation alone was found to leave small manufacturers £357 million out of pocket each year. The cost of complying with employment legislation was put at £320 million per year, comprised of dismissals and redundancy at £64 million, absence control and management at £55 million, maternity at £25 million, and disciplinary issues at £46 million. Meanwhile, the costs associated with legislation on employee holidays and any other remaining areas of employment legislation were put at £130 million. The legislation surrounding waste and the environment was calculated to cost £112 million, equality and diversity £35 million, ISO and industry standards £105 million, tax £221 million and building and property £80 million. Manufacturers in the South East face the biggest bill for overall compliance out of 12 regions identified by the Referendum at £153 million. Manufacturers in the West Midlands are hit with the second-largest cost at £133 million, followed by the South West (£132 million), the North West (£131 million), Eastern England (£127 million) and the East Midlands (£113 million). The Yorkshire and Humberside region's cost was calculated at £112 million, followed by £102 million for Scotland, £76 million for London, £60 million for Wales, £51 million for Northern Ireland and £40 million for the North East. Peter Harlick a 75 year old FPB member who runs Eas Technology in Bury, Lancashire, which manufactures electrical equipment and employs three people, said the "soul destroying" burden of legislation had got "worse and worse" over the 40 years he has been in business. He said new regulations appeared to be imposed on manufacturers almost on a monthly basis. "The situation now is disgusting. "The government wouldn't know how to run a business. If they tried, I'm sure it would go bust very quickly. All this regulation is the most soul destroying thing they've ever done to small businesses."