Whitehall departments do not yet fully understand the impact regulations have on the business community, the government's red tape czar has said.

In an interview with ePolitix.com, the head of the Better Regulation Task Force called for better links between government and businesses, with improved consultation and more secondment of staff to the private sector.

David Arculus also warned against the "quaint belief" that regulation is always the most effective way to achieve policy goals.

He told this website that given the pressures for increasing levels of red tape, the key objective was better regulation rather than deregulation.

He singled out the Patricia Hewitt's Department of Trade and Industry and Gordon Brown's Treasury as being the most progressive Whitehall ministries.

"It is probably fair to say that some of the other departments can do a little better over the next year and we will be urging them to do so," he added.

The task force's annual report - which was also published on Tuesday - highlighted failings by other departments.

It said that the education department "has proved harder to deal with, perhaps due to the upheavals" experienced there.

The task force said it had "major concerns" over the quality of some regulatory impact assessments (RIAs) produced by the Home Office.

Arculus argued that Whitehall was failing to take full account of the impact of regulations on the private sector.

"I don't think they do fully understand the impact on the business community and that is why consultation is extremely important," he told this website.

The former Severn Trent Water chief also called for more civil servants to be attached to businesses.

"I think the more opportunities we get for interchange between Whitehall and business the better," he said.

"I think at the moment the consultation procedure is probably the main one, but we certainly do need more interchange of staff."

Arculus said a key concern was the unintended consequences of some new regulations.

He pointed to rules on care homes which had perversely resulted in the sale or closure of some facilities and a shortage of beds.

Even with the pressures on some departments to respond to topical issues, it was "important that the rigour which a regulatory impact assessment gives is not by-passed".

And the task force chairman urged Whitehall to look at alternatives to regulation, such as codes of practice.

"There is a kind of quaint belief that if you regulate you get 100 per cent compliance and if you don't regulate you don't get 100 per cent compliance," he told ePolitix.com.

"But I think that is very simplistic. I think there are certain situations where if you don't regulate you can actually get a better level of compliance with your policy objectives than if you do.

"I have found, looking at some of the RIAs that have been done, the departments make the assumption that there will be 100 per cent compliance with a regulation and sort of 70 per cent compliance if you don't have a regulation.

"That obviously tips the scales in favour of regulation, and I think it is not like that."

Arculus said the UK's system for considering new regulations was leading to better regulation and delivering results on the ground.

But the task force's report highlighted 10 RIAs that it felt failed to deliver the high quality consideration expected for new regulations.

"We are drawing to the attention of the National Audit Office ten RIAs which we think it should consider," said the report.

"We hope that the NAO will produce a report, and that it will point out to departments where they can do better."

The move was welcomed by the NAO, which had previously announced that it will be taking on the role of independently evaluating RIAs.

"I welcome today's annual report from the Better Regulation Task Force, and am grateful for the suggestions of regulatory impact assessments for the National Audit Office to evaluate," said NAO chief Sir John Bourn

"I will consider these suggestions in choosing which RIAs to evaluate. In reporting, we will seek to highlight good and bad practice, to help departments improve the standards of future RIAs."