Alan Johnson has responded to criticisms that the government is drowning small businesses in red tape.

The workers' rights minister set out a series of measures to answer a report by the Better Regulation Task Force on the impact of employment regulations on smaller companies.

Government was adding to the bureaucratic burden on business by failing to consider non-regulatory means of implementing employment policies, found the red tape watchdog in May.

Johnson pledged that: "Better regulation is a priority for the government and an agenda that we have been actively pursuing."

The Department of Trade and Industry is to pilot free or subsidised employment law advice visits to employers of less than 50 employees.

Also to be trialed are schemes giving a shared personnel resource to small firms.

And ministers will consult on how harmonising start dates for domestic regulations could best work in practice.

"We are very aware of the need to strike the right balance between regulation and best practice and we work hard to involve stakeholders throughout the policy-making process," said Johnson.

The Better Regulation Taskforce had said regulations were a particular source of concern for small and medium sized enterprises.

"Businesses have told us that they feel overwhelmed by the volume and complexity of these regulations. Few disagree with what employment policies are trying to achieve," said BRTF chief, David Arculus.

"Both employer and employee representatives recognise that if the burden of regulation makes it difficult to comply the policy objective will not be met and no-one will benefit."

The report criticised government departments for failing to give full consideration to non-regulatory means of achieving their aims, such as codes of practice.

Legislation should only be used as a last resort, argued the report's authors.

Ministers were also urged to involve independent experts in developing ways of reducing the burdens of red tape, while civil servants who deal with employment law should spend time understanding how regulations impact on small businesses, the report said.

The taskforce said departments should work together to introduce changes to employment rules at the same time, so employers do not have to constantly check for new regulations.