Full/Final RIA

The full RIA builds upon the analysis in the partial RIA. You should update your RIA in the light of consultation and further information and analysis. Also include details of how the new proposals are to be explained. For information on how to produce effective guidance see How to get the message across (PDF - 89.6KB) produced by the SBS. You can then submit it to Ministers with clear recommendations.

The full RIA will accompany legislation when it is presented to Parliament. It becomes a final RIA when it is signed by the responsible Minister and placed in the House library. It should also be placed on your departmental website.

Implementation of European legislation link is usually via a UK legislative route and so your Minister will need to sign off the full RIA.

A Full/Final RIA should:

• identify the policy objectives;
• identify and quantify the risks that the proposal is addressing;
• describe the remaining options, explain how each option would fit with existing requirements and describe the key risks associated with the options, and how these can be mitigated;
• identify the business sectors affected;
• set out any issues of equity and fairness;
• compare the benefits and costs for each option considered in the partial RIA.
• also consider ‘other’ costs and benefits – ie not just those to firms, charities and the voluntary sector but also to consumers/individuals, the public sector and to the economy at large, taking in the economic, social and environmental effects. Record these costs separately from the costs to business, charities and the voluntary sector;
• consider any distributional impacts, clearly identifying both the positive and negative aspects of any transfers of income or redistribution of opportunities;
• summarise who or what sectors bear the costs and benefits of each option;
• address any unintended consequences and indirect costs;
• include a simple or a detailed Competition Assessment according to the result of the filter test;
• include details of the Small Firms’ Impact Test and any comments from the Small Business Service;
• set out the enforcement arrangements for securing compliance with each of the proposed options, as well as a consideration of the risks involved with this, and include your plans for guidance;
• say how the policy will be monitored and evaluated/reviewed, eg set an appropriate point at which to look back at what the actual costs and benefits were;
• summarise the results of the consultation exercise, responses received from different sectors or types of business/body (where these vary) and set out how/whether you have changed the assumptions, costings and recommendations following consultation;
• summarise the impacts, including the impact of each option on small firms and any measures for helping then comply; and
• recommend a preferred option, giving reasons based on the elements of the RIA, in particular the analysis of the benefit and costs.