The CLA has welcomed the announcement by the Minister of State for Business and Enterprise, Mark Prisk, of an assault on red tape, including an end to gold-plating of EU regulation, a review of over 21,000 statutory instruments and a general moratorium from all new domestic regulations for three years for new and small businesses.

Douglas Chalmers, Director CLA North, said: “Whenever I meet rural businesses, including farms, it is never long before the issue of red tape is raised. We have been lobbying on this for years, and now it appears that Government has listened, and is acting to free small businesses from the constraints that were threatening to strangle them and the whole economy.

“Small businesses are the lifeblood of the rural economy, and now they can concentrate on developing their businesses for the next three years without having to worry about having to conform to new and unexpected legislation. We will also be encouraging our members to contribute to the review of existing legislation, and we already have much evidence of hardship caused by out of date, irrelevant or clumsy regulations.

“Our members will be delighted to hear that the Government plan to end the so called gold-plating of EU regulations, by simply applying EU directives into domestic law, without embellishment. This may not sound significant, but past experience suggests that this will make a huge difference.

“It is only a start, but it is a good one, and I can promise that the CLA and its members will do their best to keep this momentum going.”