The Treasury estimates that cutting paperwork for businesses could save firms around £800m, according to a Budget preview published today by Brit Brief. The report gives no period for the saving and does not say how it would be achieved.
Brit Brief quotes the Prime Minister, Andy Burnham, on red tape:
"If you run a business, you want to spend your time serving your customers, creating jobs and growing your firm, not filling in unnecessary forms."
The same preview reports that Burnham has ordered the Chancellor, John Healey, and the Energy Secretary, Miatta Fahnbulleh, to look into removing standing charges from gas bills. He also wants to break the link that lets wholesale gas prices set electricity bills, Brit Brief says. Both are described as instructions to examine the changes, not as Budget measures.
Brit Brief also says Healey is under pressure to cancel January's planned fuel duty rise, and that the rate has not gone up since 2011. That is the outlet's account, not a Treasury statement.
The preview does not say whether any of these items will appear in Wednesday's Budget. None has been confirmed by the Treasury.