Review of UK Regulators Aims to Reduce Post-Brexit Hurdles for Businesses and Root Out 'Bad Practices'

Consumers in Britain are set to get a major relief as the Rishi Sunak government announced a new measure of reviewing regulators in the UK.

The new move announced by the Department for Business and Trade on Monday, October 2, seeks to reduce the burden of UK businesses in the post-Brexit regulatory framework.

The UK government aims to improve customer experiences across England through this measure as it cuts down bureaucratic hurdles like red tape. This comes at a time when the government announced a crackdown on fake reviews and product labelling to reduce the cost-of-living crisis burden of consumers.

The review of UK regulators will boost the performance of the businesses in the country as it establishes what's working well in the system and removes major bottlenecks in the regulatory framework. Around 90 regulators from various sectors would be assessed through the process. Maintaining these regulators in the UK costs £5 billion a year.

In this 12-week call for evidence, the UK government will do an in-depth review of all the regulators in the UK. This will be done to capitalise on post-Brexit freedoms which can usher in a smarter regulatory framework in the UK economy.

Through the three-month-long review, it will be assessed if the UK regulators are running efficiently and delivering reforms that are protecting the interests of UK consumers and helping the UK economy to grow.

UK consumers, businesses and regulators can express their views and opinions regarding the regulatory framework of the country in these 12 weeks. It's part of the Sunak government's Smarter Regulation Programme which aims to make regulations "less burdensome and more effective".

Views on improving the UK regulatory framework and identifying areas where the regulators are doing well is the primary agenda of this programme.

According to the UK government, statistics, 39 per cent of UK SMEs have said that red tape is holding them back. Through the Smarter Regulation Programme, the government wants to identify those issues and bring about consumer-friendly economy-driving changes to the regulatory landscape.

The government wants to send out the message that it is firmly backing UK business through this measure. This is in line with recent attempts to address post-Brexit trade barriers by establishing a new board of trade.

Rooting out 'bad practices'

Speaking about the matter, the UK trade secretary Kemi Badenoch said that the government wants to use "post-Brexit freedoms to scrap unnecessary regulations that hold back firms and hamper growth".

Badenoch underlined how rooting out "bad practices" will help UK businesses by making their lives easier and reducing the costs for UK consumers.

The trade secretary underlined the key agenda of the programme is to get views on "regulatory agility; proportionality; predictability and consistency of approach". Part of the plan is to reform the existing stock of regulation given in the UK Statute book (both retained EU law and wider regulations), said Badenoch.

Badenoch further elaborated on why this is necessary as regulators play a key role in protecting the workers' rights and consumers' rights along with the business environment. This will ensure that no reforms come at the expense of the UK's high standards, the trade secretary added.

The UK government launched this programme in light of the wide range of concerns expressed by industry leaders.

The government has clubbed the complaints into three categories – too many regulators with too many duties creating inconsistency, regulatory behaviour that risks the appetite and overall performance of UK companies, and risk-averse and process-oriented regulators hampering the best outcomes.

Accountability and regulatory power haven't improved in tandem as some UK regulators have greater decision-making authority post-Brexit, alleged industry players. As such the government wants to review and train them which is why regulators like Ofgem, Ofcom and Ofwat are under review.

The final step of the Smarter Regulation Programme is deregulation and the UK government has already launched consultations for that purpose. The fire safety regulation of domestic appliances and the product safety regulation are already under scrutiny to enhance safety and reduce business burdens.

The review's findings will make UK regulators more accountable and efficient in their respective sectors, said the government.