Smarter regulation and the regulatory landscape

The Department for Business and Trade has informed of the extension of its call for evidence on the effectiveness of UK regulation and regulators which was launched in October 2023 and which was about to close on January 7, 2024. The extension applies until January 17, 2024, inclusive.
To recall, the call for evidence followed the publication of a position paper in May 2023, which outlined the government’s key fundamental principles underlying future regulation in UK (EventID 21201) in response to the government’s decision to exit the EU and to replace all retained EU-legislation (REUL). The key aim is thereby to make regulation smarter and more proportionate to bring about economic growth and international competitiveness of the UK (financial market).
This call for evidence sets out questions targeting all firms and organizations in the UK, including regulators themselves, to evaluate
– what is working well in the regulatory environment of the UK;
– how well regulatory agencies are performing with respect to their designated supervisory sector;
– which improvements should or could be made to improve regulation in UK and thus related issues such as proportionality, promptness, transparency, or engagement with stakeholders.
Some of the posed questions are listed below; for the entire list, please refer to the enclosed response form:
– Based on your experience, do you think that UK regulators are supportive of the individual businesses they regulate in a way that appropriately balances considerations of consumers and other businesses within the sector more broadly?
– What do you consider to be the most positive and/or negative aspect of how the UK regulators that you engage with operate?
– Based on your experience or understanding of UK regulators, do you find it clear what the overall purpose and objectives of individual regulators are?
– Do you think that the statutory duties (i.e required by legislation) imposed on UK regulators:
– Cover the right issues?
– Are clearly stated in relevant statute, including where supplemented by relevant guidance?; and
– Do you often have to engage multiple UK regulators on the same issue or area?
– Do you consider that UK regulators collaborate effectively with each other and their international counterparts?
– Where you engage with multiple UK regulators, do you find it clear which regulator is responsible for a specific issue or area, and how regulator mandates interact?
– Do you consider the processes that UK regulators have in place allow them to make decisions in an appropriate time frame?
– In the sector(s) that you operate in, do you think there are specific improvements that UK regulators and / or the Government could make to facilitate a more agile implementation of rules and regulations?
– Do you think UK regulators have the appropriate mix of skills to deliver their objectives?
– Do you consider UK regulators to be proportionate in the measures they take, e.g. in applying regulations or responding to emerging issues?
– UK regulators often need to balance delivery across a range of different legislative duties or regulatory requirements, some of which may involve trade-offs. Do you consider that they balance these trade-offs effectively and transparently?
– In general, do you consider the approach that UK regulators take to requests for information to be proportionate to any burden they may impose on you?
– Do you consider that UK regulators have in place the right governance structures to deliver the best outcomes? If not, how can they be improved?
– Do UK regulators sufficiently communicate the processes they follow to make decisions?
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Responses to the call for evidence may be provided by using the above noted response form and e-mailing it to: smarter.regulation@businessandtrade.gov.uk or by using the online-form which may be accessed via this link.