His recommendations have been accepted by the Government and a new Better Regulation Executive will be formed to implement them.Mr Hampton said: “I think there could be a steep reduction in the cost to business.”A No 10 commissioned report from the Better Regulation Taskforce, headed by David Arculus, chairman of O2, also published its findings yesterday, saying output could rise £16bn if the burden of red tape was cut by a quarter.Mr Hampton’s report found that business regulation employed 61,000 people in organisations that had collective budgets of £4bn.The review is calling for the burden of enforcement to fall most on highest-risk businesses and least on those with a good compliance record. It would however take some time to take effect, and a reasonable estimate is that, if the current Government is returned after the general election, it would take three years or so to get any new agency up and running.”Sir John’s reaction reveals the scale of Mr Hampton’s proposals. This will also include bodies such as the National Weights and Measures Laboratory and be responsible for co-ordinating local trading standards officers.In an e-mail to staff yesterday, Sir John said: “This prospect is news to all of us – Penny [Boyse, executive director] and I heard only last week – and is bound to create uncertainty and anxiety.”Sir John, however, tried to reassure staff by pointing out that any new agency would take several years to establish.”The Hampton recommendation clearly involves the possibility of very significant change for the OFT. Gordon Brown’s plans to strip away red tape and make the nation’s legion of business watchdogs more effective have stunned leading regulators who were caught by surprise at the reforms, detailed in the Treasury-commissioned Hampton Review, published yesterday alongside the Budget.
Some of the country’s most senior regulators, including Sir John Vickers, chairman of the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), have already called emergency meetings to try and answer staff concerns about jobs and the likelihood of needing to relocate as some regulatory bodies are merged and others are closed.The review, produced by Philip Hampton, chairman of J Sainsbury, recommends that the OFT lose its consumer protection operations which would move to a new Consumer and Trading Standards Agency. However, this can cause a conflict in underfunded schemes, where trustees are calling for higher contributions and their employer is reluctant.Sir Derek wants pension funds to have the right to insist that the employer appoints its own actuary, at times when a conflict of interest is apparent.Among his principal recommendations aimed at raising standards in the sector, Sir Derek said that the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) should oversee the actuarial profession, taking on the role of independent regulator Currently, the industry is largely self-regulated.

“There is a risk that excessive scrutiny of advice could lead to overly defensive advice as well as substantially increased costs,” he said.. It added that they should “provide a blueprint for practical and effective reform of the actuarial profession”.But Aaron Punwani, a partner at Lane Clark & Peacock, an actuarial firm, said that while he welcomed most of the report, he was concerned that excessive scrutiny of the sector could lead to “reckless prudence”, forcing actuaries to take an over-conservative stance. Michael Pommery, the chairman of the Actuarial Profession, the industry’s trade body, said he welcomed the proposals but warned that his industry alone would not be able to foot the additional costs.The Treasury said that it welcomed the review and “in principle” accepted Sir Derek’s recommendations. The FRC currently regulates the accounting and auditing professions. Currently, most pension schemes share an actuary with their employer.

Maybe that is what he [Gordon Brown] wants to do, to convert the blues to red I think he has managed the economy quite well But I don’t know how I will vote.”Terri Judd. The Government’s monopoly on providing actuarial advice to public-sector pension schemes should be broken up, according to a Treasury-commissioned review of the actuarial profession. They also pay private school fees.Politics: Mrs Jones voted Conservative during the last election and is likely to do so again. She lives with her husband, Tim, 44, who isthe company’s chairman, and their children, Tabitha, nine, and Blake, five, in Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire.Age: 43Income: They have a joint salary of £260,000 and the company provides private medical care, pension, life assurance and a nanny to look after the children.Outgoings: Their outgoings include substantial mortgage payments as well as council tax on the Henley house and a second home in Tuscany Fuel bills alone cost them £200 per month. I thought we [high income families] would be hit a bit more and would be having to pay out more.

It is one of the Tory’s safest seats.Hopes for the Budget: No major changes.Effect of Budget: Mrs Jones will do well with income tax unchanged but badly on national insurance changes – leaving her £325 worse off a year.She says: “I am quite pleased I didn’t want any horrible surprises. Zambians know me and know that I have always dressed very well from the 1960s.”. “What they have done is to bring my underpants out to the general public,” he said.”It is sad that the fight against corruption is being reduced to discussing suits, shirts, ties and shoes. After Mr Mwanawasa won an election which was dismissed by the European Union as fraudulent, he immediately started an anti-corruption crackdown that targeted many members of the former regime. The lawsuit in the High Court to recover the £20m is one of many theft charges raised against Mr Chiluba, who allegedly stole the money during his tenure from 1991 to 2001. Similar charges were brought in a Zambian court, but had to be dismissed after two key witnesses fled the country.Mr Chiluba, who began his career as a trade unionist, has denied any wrongdoing ¶and accused Mr Mwanawasa of pursuing a vendetta that had turned into a petty charade. “If they can’t come,” he predicted, “the shareholders will lose patience and this project will die.” And with it many of Jericho’s hopes of a more prosperous future..