Much-needed work such as the apprenticeship levy and business rates reform to boost the high street retail sector fell by the wayside, while the task of addressing problems caused by the pensions super tax was neglected, research from Thomson Reuters shows. Moreover, many of the policies suggested by the 2017 government-commissioned Taylor Review into the gig economy have not yet been implemented.
In the year up to the end of September, the number of non-Brexit related laws affecting business fell 21% to just 685―the fourth successive fall (starting 2015/16), which means the total has halved since 1,500 laws in the year before the 2016 EU Referendum.
‘Basic legislation aimed at keeping the statute book fit for purpose has been pushed down the agenda,’ said Daniel Greenberg, lawyer specialising in legislation and former parliamentary counsel.
‘Whether you support Brexit or not, the stark drop in business laws passed shows just how time-consuming Brexit is. As well as Brexit, the government’s lack of a Parliamentary majority continues to make passing business-related laws difficult. Opposition from merely a handful of Conservative MPs can stop a piece of legislation, which is likely to have dissuaded the government from introducing new laws and reforms.’
Those pieces of businesses-related legislation that have been passed in the last year include Acts to allow enforcement authorities to request data from non-UK communication providers and introduce changes to corporation tax, capital allowances and vehicle duties, and regulations to allow the authorities to freeze the assets of suspected cyber-attackers.
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