Despite many years of broad political consensus to cut red tape, the flow of new regulations, circulars and procedures imposed by the state on local councils has grown explosively. A research project conducted by a student at Aarhus University looked at three specific areas – schools, at-risk youth and water regulations – and found that the amount of new rules being dictated by the government in those areas had grown by 51 percent. Peter Birch Sørensen, the head of a productivity commission appointed by the government, said the numbers suggested that many unnecessary rules are being imposed. – Politiken