asked the Minister for Industry and Commerce if he is conducting an audit of paperwork requirements imposed by his Department, or by agencies under his aegis, on business; if so, when the audit commenced; the named officer, if any, in charge of the audit; if any report thereon has yet been presented to him; if so, the contents thereof; if any practices or regulations have yet been altered as a result of the audit; if so, the details thereof; if he has prepared any report on the compliance costs to industry of legislation being prepared by his Department; the way in which these reports compare in content, scope or purpose with reports on this subject already required by decisions of the previous Government; and if he will outline the subjects being covered by the audit now being conducted in his Department.
Written Answers. - Paperwork Requirement Imposed on Business.
The Government decided recently that each Minister should initiate a programme to review all the statutory and information requirements of his Department and the bodies under their aegis which impact on business and industry.
My Department are currently engaged in carrying out such a review which is being co-ordinated by a principal officer in the Industries `A' Division. I expect that the first report from the departmental review will be completed shortly and it will then, in common with the reports of other Departments, be referred for assessment by the Industrial Costs Monitoring Group which has already established a formal liaison on the issue with bodies representing industry. I will be making a composite report covering progress in all Departments to the Government later this year.
The new compliance cost assessment procedures which have now been introduced cover the assessment of all costs, including administrative costs, to industry of compliance with any proposed new regulations or amendments to existing regulations which impact on industry. This compares with an earlier requirement in operation since March 1985 which covered only new proposals being submitted to Government and which called for an estimate of the direct industrial costs involved in the proposals.