UK Government White Paper Published on Smarter Regulation

DBT have published a White Paper in response to the ‘Smarter Regulation’ call for evidence.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) published a call for evidence in January 2024 (see past news item) seeking views on independent regulators and the functionality of the current UK regulatory landscape, considering responses from businesses, consumers, regulators, and other bodies across all sectors.  CTPA’s response to the consultation can be accessed in the CTPA Consultation Responses.

On 16 May 2024, DBT published a White Paper titled ‘Smarter Regulation: Delivering a regulatory environment for innovation, investment and growth’ which outlines a plan for regulatory reform in response to the call for evidence.  The plan includes:

• introducing a set of guiding principles that business regulators should apply to their decision making;
• creating a ‘register of regulators’ for businesses to identify which regulators and regulations apply to their business;
• launching a new Regulators Council to improve the strategic dialogue between regulators and government;
• applying a new Growth Duty Performance Framework for regulators to provide evidence on how they are supporting economic growth.

Read the full White Paper here.

Alongside the White Paper, DBT published ‘Smarter Regulation: One Year On – May 2024’, outlining the smarter regulation announcements over the last year as well as 25 new policy announcements across different sectors.  These announcements include the consultation on an alternative model for UK REACH, aiming to reduce the need for UK industry to access EU hazard data and improving information on use and exposure.  Read more about this consultation in this CTPA news item.