Better Regulation in the UK

1. Better Regulation in the UK 1 December 2008

2. Ministerial Responsibilities Lord Peter Mandelson Secretary of State Overall responsibility for the department Stephen Carter Minister for Communications, Technology, Broadcasting and Better Regulation Shriti Vadera Minister for Economic Competitiveness and Small Business Ian Pearson Economic and Business Minister Pat McFadden Minister of State Minister for Employment Relations and Postal Affairs Gareth Thomas Minister for Trade, Investment and Consumer Affairs

3. The Department’s Structure Permanent Secretary Enterprise and Business Group Better Regulation Executive Fair Markets Group Business Environment Unit UK Trade & Investment The Shareholder Executive Legal Services Strategic Policy Analysis Operations Group Finance and Strategy Group

4. Better Regulation Executive • In 2005 the new “Better Regulation Executive” was established • In 2007, BERR created • Supports and challenges departments and regulators to reduce and remove regulation across the private, public and voluntary sectors

5. What are we Trying to Achieve through Better Regulation? • Simplifying existing regulation (the stock) • Minimising the burden of new regulation (the flow) • Improve the perception of regulation and achieve culture change in enforcement and in Whitehall • Influence Europe

6. BRE Structure • Regulatory Reform Directorate • Regulatory Innovation Directorate • Strategic Support

7. Regulatory Reform Directorate The Regulatory Reform Directorate is responsible for supporting and challenging Government departments and regulators. Teams work with their regulators and departments to understand their priorities, the flow of future regulations and their plans to simplify regulatory burdens. As well as strong links across Government, teams also have strong relationships with the business and public sector organisations most affected by those departments and regulators. The teams work across the BRE agenda but some teams are more likely to focus on public services and others more on the private sector as a result of the clustering of departments and regulators. In addition, one team covers BRE’s European work – including over time, a greater emphasis on influencing other departments in their negotiating positions on individual dossiers. This Directorate also houses the Secretariat to the BRE’s Prime Ministerial Chaired Cabinet Committee, called the Panel for Regulatory Accountability.

8. Regulatory Innovation Directorate The work undertaken in the Regulatory Innovation Directorate (RID) is based on special projects and future policy. The Directorate operates in a flexible way with individuals working on one or more projects at a time. Projects may vary in length from a few weeks to a year or more. The Directorate has recently completed the Rogers Review of local authority regulatory priorities (May 2007) Richard Macrory's Review of Regulatory Penalties (November 2006) and Neil Davidson's Review of the implementation of EU legislation (December 2006). The Directorate also worked on DTI's Gibbon Review on employment dispute resolution.

9. The five principles of good regulation • Transparent • Accountable • Proportionate • Consistent • Targeted – only at cases where action is needed

10. Regulatory Reform Minister Board Level Champions (senior civil servants) Departmental Better Regulation Units (day to day coordination) Line Ministries • Three levels of control:

11. Ministers – Panel for Regulatory Accountability • Scrutiny role on departmental regulations • Approves all regulations with costs over £20m • Challenges and, where necessary, approves over-implementation of EU law

12. UK Parliament • All legislation laid before Parliament must be accompanied by an impact assessment • Includes secondary legislation such as Statutory Instruments, Orders, etc • Increased scrutiny of impact assessments in legislative process • Select Committee interest

13. Inspection and Enforcement • Review of Regulatory System- Hampton Report 2005 • Reducing the number of regulators • Streamlining the regulatory process (RES Act 2008) • Improving communication to businesses

14. Hampton Principles (1) • Hampton Report • seven principles for more efficient and effective regulatory inspection and enforcement • Regulators should recognise that a key element of their activity will be to allow, or even encourage, economic progress, and only to intervene when there is a clear case for protection • Regulators should use comprehensive risk assessment to concentrate resources in the areas that need them most • Regulators should provide authoritative, accessible advice cheaply and easily • No inspection should take place without a reason

15. Hampton Principles (2) • Business should not have to give unnecessary information, nor give the same piece of information twice • Businesses that persistently break regulations should be identified quickly, and face proportionate and meaningful sanctions • Regulators should be accountable for efficiency and effectiveness of their activities, while remaining independent in the decisions they take

16. Who’s enforcing the rules? Approx 60 non-economic regulators (from Housing Corporation to British Potato Council) • Circa 600 000 inspections • 432 local authorities • Circa 2 million inspections

17. Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Act 2008 • Statutory powers to Local Better Regulation Office (LBRO) • LBRO promotes more consistency across local authorities in the way they enforce regulations and work with central government. • Coordination of regulatory enforcement • Civil sanctions- provides a framework of administrative sanctions that will allow regulators to tackle non-compliance in ways that are: • transparent • flexible • proportionate to the offence. Regulatory burdens- duty on specified regulators to: • review the burdens they impose • reduce any that are unnecessary and unjustifiable • report on their progress annually.

18. Local Better Regulation Office (LBRO) • Created in 2007. Statutory power provided in RES Act 2008 • Aims to improve the performance of local authority regulatory services • Improve local authority enforcement of environmental health, trading standards, licensing and fire safety services. • Promote consistency and best practice in regulatory enforcement

19. Public Sector Strategy 2007 • Fewer and better co-ordinated requests for data from the frontline – • 30% data-stream reduction target • A reduction in the stock of unnecessary bureaucracy in the areas the front-line cares most about – • identify and tackle major irritants • Better engagement with front-line workers to identify and remove bureaucracy • stakeholder groups, surveys, and a website to allow anyone to put forward ideas for simplification. • Better regulation that is understood and mirrored through the public service delivery chain • Working with intermediate bodies to spread best practice and Better Regulation principles.

20. Regulatory Budgets • World-First- no other country have done this before • Mechanism for managing the total cost of new regulations that could be introduced within a given period (3 years) • Greater control over the total cost of regulation • Better allocation of resources in the economy • Consultation closed in November 2008; to be launched in April 2009 • Details are currently being finalised

21. Web links and e-mail • www.berr.gov.uk/bre • www.betterregulation.gov.uk • IA Guidance: http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file44544.pdf • RES Act 2008- http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts2008/pdf/ukpga_20080013_en.pdf