Local regulation of businesses by environmental health, fire safety, licensing and trading standards services can place unnecessary burdens on them, hampering economic growth, says BIS. The LBRO was set up in 2008 to address this issue, combining an independent, expert perspective on local regulation with the statutory powers required to drive progress.

A review team will engage with LBRO’s key stakeholders to examine how successful LBRO has been in achieving its objectives of creating the conditions for regulatory reform at the local level, and delivering consistency for business. The findings will be presented to ministers next month.

The government has also launched yet another review, this time with the aim of assessing the effectiveness of the Right to Request Time off to Train. It’s findings will also be presented in September.

Dr Adam Marshall, director of policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, says: ‘We strongly believe that the Time to Train regulations should be scrapped in their entirety. The process obligations they impose on smaller businesses are inappropriate, costly, and potentially confusing when they are combined with other legal obligations.’