Government's red tape slashers hold first meeting

The first meeting of Vince Cable's new red tape committee has taken place in Whitehall.

Chaired by the business secretary, the group is tasked with tracking down regulations which place too much bureaucracy on entrepreneurs and ensuring there is a "robust case" for the introduction of new rules.

The government claims the committee, which also includes small business minister Mark Prisk, Treasury chief secretary Danny Alexander and Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude, will be "tough" and has "unprecedented power to send burdensome red tape back to Departments".

"For too long, there has been a misplaced notion that government's job is to regulate," said Vince Cable. "That is not the case. Regulation should be the last resort.

"This committee, along with the new 'challenge group', will help change the culture of government and find new ways of solving problems, reducing the red tape that is strangling enterprise.