Business secretary Vince Cable announces new action plan to tackle the "deluge of regulations" that have been stifling businesses for too long.
The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said the proposals to slash red tape will be welcome news to the 4.8m small firms - 27% of which, who wanted to expand, said that the proposed increases in legislation would affect them doing so.

Mr Cable's proposed measures include creating a new Reducing Regulation Committee, which he will chair, to enforce "a new approach to new laws and regulations, ensuring that their costs are properly addressed across the entire British economy."

There will also be an immediate review of all regulation that is in the pipeline for implementation - inherited from the previous Labour government. The business department claims that the cost of implementing all of the pending regulation would reach around £5bn in this financial year and £19.1bn after that.

FSB policy chairman Mike Cherry commented on the measures: "Regulation has long been stifling business growth so these plans to put an end to the excessive legislation that choke small businesses is welcome news...We now need to see the government give detailed plans as to how these will take effect so that small firms can get on with growing their business, rather than spending precious time filling in forms to say they will do just that."

Other plans of action announced by Mr Cable include introducing a "one in, one out" approach to help reduce the burden and establishing a new "challenge group" to try and achieve social and ecological goals without the need for new regulations.

Mr Cable said: "The deluge of new regulations has been choking off enterprise for too long. We must move away from the view that the only way to solve is to regulate."

The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) feels the government is moving in the right direction over legislation but stresses that it is early days. Director general Richard Lambert said: "It is only the first step in a process, which will require a major cultural change in Whitehall and innovative new thinking about the government's whole approach to risk and regulation."

Meanwhile, The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) also welcomed the government's decision "to review all of the red tape in the pipeline", especially since its research found that new employment regulations over the next four years could increase business costs by more than £11bn.

However, BCC director general David Frost stressed that the association will be keeping a close eye on the development of the initiatives. "While the initial signs from this government are very positive on reducing the burden of red tape, the coalition should remember that we will be subjecting them to the same level of scrutiny that we have with other initiatives over the years."