The government’s pledge to cut red tape was called into question by research showing it introduced around six new laws every working day last year, an 8% rise on 2011.

The government has said it will scrap two existing regulations for every new regulation it brings in. However, research by legal information provider Sweet & Maxwell showed 1,466 new laws were introduced in 2012, compared with 1,355 during the previous year.

Daniel Greenberg, author of Laying Down the Law, pointed to the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act, the Financial Services Act and the Localism Act as being particularly onerous.