Regulation-busting plan sabotaged by Sir Humphreys, says IoD

4 October 2005

Business could well face extra burdens under a Government plan for a powerful new Consumer and Trading Standards Agency (CTSA), the Institute of Directors warned today.

In a response to a Department of Trade and Industry consultation, the IoD said it could not support the CTSA in its proposed form and called for a leaner alternative based in the Office of Fair Trading.

The CTSA was originally proposed by the Hampton Report as a deregulatory unit to tackle inconsistent rulings by local authority Trading Standards Officers. However, it threatens to become another major new inspectorate itself, with a remit to investigate business sectors for alleged anti-consumer practices, the IoD cautioned.

IoD Director General, Miles Templeman, said:

"Somewhere along the way, the deregulatory thrust of the Hampton Review has been diverted into the creation of a major new bureaucracy. Far from being the business community's regulation-busting friend, the new body now threatens to be the worst kind of busy-body inspectorate.

"In a classic Yes Minister manoeuvre, the Sir Humphreys have taken Hampton's pro-enterprise blueprint and transformed it into something that will have the opposite effect!"

Mr Templeman argued that the alleged problem of inconsistencies between different trading standards units could be tackled through the existing structures of the Office of Fair Trading:

"There is certainly a role for a lean co-ordinating body with a remit to spread best practice around local authority trading standards units. Beefing up the existing consumer unit within the Office of Fair Trading would do the trick. There is no need for a completely new body with its own logo, mission statement, board of management and empire-building ambitions," he said.