Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill

The hon. Gentleman will understand that there are many potential gains that we can deliver if we maintain this agenda. Regulatory costs are estimated to be between 10 and 12 per cent. of gross domestic product, and the administrative and paperwork costs make up perhaps a third of that figure. As for measuring the administrative costs of regulation, as we are now doing on an even more ambitious scale, the Dutch Government discovered that they were 3.6 per cent. of GDP.