By Richard Tyler

THE Government's commitment to slashing red tape to encourage economic growth has been questioned after the Whitehall department in charge of better regulation admitted it has so far failed to remove any regulations.

Business Secretary Vince Cable last week read the riot act to the cabinet over the need to do "more" to tackle the growth of red tape that he said was stifling the economy However, under questioning in the Commons by Nicholas Soames, the Conservative MP for Mid Sussex, the Better Regulations minister Ed Davey admitted that his department had "not yet revoked any significant regulatory measures" since the Coalition came to power last May.

This is despite the Government's creation of a Reducing Regulation Cabinet Committee and a system of deregulation called "One in, One out", which has been running since October 1 and which is designed to reduce the net cost of regulation on business by 5pc each year.

Mr Soames told Your Business the slow progress on deregulation was unacceptable. "People need to see the Government is taking steps and really means it on deregulation and the general spirit of enterprise," he said. "The whole programme needs to be speeded up."

Mr Cable has commented that reducing regulation was "central" to the Government's "growth agenda".

However Andrew Cave, chief spokesman at the Federation of Small Businesses, said: "I am surprised they are not moving faster on the deregulation agenda. We have supported the 'One in, One out' process but we do need to see some action. At the moment it's just words."