The Ministry considered 189 pieces of legislation during the review, which has seen hundreds of unnecessary laws tackled across Government.

Justice Minister Shailesh Vara said:

‘By reducing the red tape which wastes time and stifles innovation we are helping businesses, strengthening our economy and making life simpler and safer for consumers.

‘We want people’s time and energy to be spent productively, instead of being tied up dealing with unnecessary regulations, and these changes mark an important step.’

As part of the review MoJ has taken forward proposals including:

• Improving rules and regulations for bailiffs, clarifying when and how they can access properties and what fees they are allowed to charge for their services. These changes will come into effect in April 2014.
• Improving rules and regulations for claims management companies, including banning referral fees paid for profitable claims and prohibiting cash incentives offered to potential customers. These changes came into effect during 2013.
• Improving rules and regulations for the Land Registry, simplifying the process of searching for property information.
• Scrapping outdated legislation around blood tests for paternity cases, which have now been replaced.

Yesterday’s announcement follows the outcome of a Red Tape Challenge focus run by the Government at www.redtapechallenge.cabinetoffice.gov.uk where members of the public were invited to give views on how rules, regulations and bureaucracy could be reduced or improved. Legal Services was one of a series of areas which have been under the spotlight as part of the challenge.