This report recommends reforms to help deal with the problems faced by business, especially small and medium sized businesses, in coping with rapid changes in employment laws.

Main recommendations include a proposal for a single commencement date for new legislation so that new regulations should be grouped together to come into force in blocks twice a year, at the beginning of April and the beginning of October, rather than at scattered intervals during the year, a free regularly updated CD-rom for employers on employment rights, free mediation and arbitration services to be provided by ACAS for business with up to 50 employees and free seminars by ACAS for employers with less than 5 employees.

The August 2002 government response paper accepts and/or agrees in whole or part with all 12 of the recommendations made by the Better Regulation Task Force. A 2002/08/06 - DTI Press Release P/2002/521 summarises the government's response.

Subsequently, on 16th October 2002, the DTI issued a consultation document to consider the Better Regulation Task Force proposals. Consultation ended on 30th January 2003.

In spring 2006 the DTI launched an "Employment Law Simplification Review" with the aim of reducing compliance costs and complexity, and to address the irritants for business and others affected by employment law, without diluting employee or union rights. This was followed in December 2006 by the setting up of an "Employment Law Simplification Review Practitioners’ Panel" (see DTI Better Regulation Simplification Plan, December 2006). There are newspaper reports that the proposed simplification could include abolition of the DTI itself (see Daily Telegraph, "Brown plans to abolish DTI", 11th December 2006).

For completeness it should be noted that the Better Regulation Task Force, which is part of the Cabinet Office, is quite separate from the Employment Tribunal Systems Task Force set up in October 2001 (see notes at Dispute Resolution ).