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The government will consult next year on major changes to the Conduct Regulations that regulate recruitment agencies, according to employment relations minister Ed Davey.

Speaking at a press briefing this morning, Davey said: “The Conduct Regulations have not been properly reviewed [since they came in] and we are systematically  reviewing them.”

The government will consult both with the recruitment industry and businesses that use agencies, said Davey.

Davey said the recent introduction of the Agency Workers Regulations (AWR) strengthened the case for a review. For example, he said there was an anomaly that while criminal sanctions applied in the case of AWR, civil sanctions applied in respect of the Conduct Regulations.

“Some of the regulations are being used in business to business relationships, which seems a bit odd,” added Davey.

“It does suggest that there is some room for deregulation and reform. We do believe this is a major opportunity to review the regulations and to scrap, merge and simplify them.”

Earlier in a speech on reforms to employment law, business secretary Vince Cable said: “Around two million people find work through the recruitment sector - but the rules that recruitment businesses must comply with are hugely complex.

“We are going to consult next year with a view to scrapping unnecessary rules and making the remaining ones more comprehensible to business, so they can use agency workers as flexibly as possible.”

For more on Cable’s speech, see recruiter.co.uk’s story ’CIPD finds Cable proposals unsatisfactory’.