Small Business Regulatory Taskforce builds on lessons from 2025 licensing reforms

The Government has formally launched a new Small Business Regulatory Taskforce, promising to cut unnecessary red tape for Britain’s small firms while preserving essential public protections.

Announced in a Written Ministerial Statement to Parliament by Small Business Minister Blair McDougall, the taskforce will bring together ministers, regulators and industry representatives to identify practical reforms that reduce the regulatory and administrative burden faced by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

The move represents the latest phase in the Government’s broader programme of regulatory reform and bears clear similarities to the sector-specific Licensing Taskforce established in 2025.

In his statement to MPs, McDougall said that evidence gathered through the Department for Business and Trade’s Business Questionnaire had revealed that “complexity, duplication and inconsistent guidance across regulators can make it harder for smaller firms to comply and grow”. He added that the Government remained committed to reducing unnecessary burdens “while maintaining vital protections for workers, consumers, the environment and the wider public interest.”

According to the taskforce’s terms of reference, the new body has been commissioned jointly by the Department for Business and Trade and HM Treasury to develop practical, evidence-based recommendations to simplify regulatory requirements affecting SMEs and micro-businesses. Its remit includes identifying opportunities to streamline compliance processes, improve the clarity and usability of guidance, and support businesses in adopting technologies and capabilities that make compliance easier.

The model echoes the approach adopted by the Government’s Licensing Taskforce in 2025. Established as a joint industry-government initiative, the Licensing Taskforce examined whether the operation of the Licensing Act 2003 had become disproportionate and inconsistent in its application. Its final report argued that businesses in the hospitality and night-time economy faced unnecessary barriers to investment and growth because of fragmented decision-making and excessive administrative requirements.

The newly established Small Business Regulatory Taskforce seeks to apply those principles across the wider SME economy. Rather than focusing on a single sector, it will examine cross-cutting issues affecting businesses of all sizes, including duplication between regulators, overlapping reporting requirements and the practical challenges of navigating complex guidance.

Notably, the taskforce’s terms of reference also suggest it may draw on lessons from the Fingleton Review into nuclear regulation, exploring where regulators have imposed requirements that exceed statutory or risk-based expectations – a practice sometimes described as “gold-plating”.

Business groups have long argued that the cumulative effect of multiple regulatory regimes can be particularly burdensome for smaller firms, which often lack dedicated compliance teams. Ministers hope that a collaborative, evidence-led approach involving both government and industry will identify reforms that improve productivity and encourage entrepreneurship without weakening standards designed to protect the public.

The taskforce is expected to report back with recommendations aimed at making the UK’s regulatory landscape more proportionate, comprehensible and growth-friendly.