1The Minister for the Cabinet Office, Jack Cunningham, says good regulation can help the jobless back into work.Speaking ahead of the Better Regulation White Paper due out later this year, he gave an outline of what the concept means.

He said regulations must be in clear and in simple language, they should be balanced, and implemented only after those affected have been consulted. They should be periodically reviewed to ensure they are necessary and effective, and new regulation must be consistent with that already in force.

Co-chairing a major EU conference on regulation, Dr Cunningham stressed the vital role Better Regulation plays in combating unemployment.

He said: “Europe has 18 million unemployed people and we need to make sure that businesses, particularly small businesses, can create jobs for them. Scrapping unnecessary regulations and making as easy as possible to comply effectively with existing and new regulations is the key to lightening the load for companies.”