Better Regulation Executive

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• Initial, partial and full/final RIA
• Who is my BRU?

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Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) overview

• What is a Regulatory Impact Assessment?
• Who needs to do a Regulatory Impact Assessment?
• What are the benefits of a Regulatory Impact Assessment?
• When should I start a Regulatory Impact Assessment?
• The initial, partial and full/final Regulatory Impact Assessment
• Further advice

Further advice

The departmental Better Regulation Unit (BRU ) must be your first port of call when you start a RIA. Each government department has a BRU. If you are unsure who your BRU is, contact the Better Regulation Executive on 020 7215 0377.

You must follow the online step-by-step RIA Guidance when carrying out an RIA.

For significant measures, you also must deal directly with the Better Regulation Executive. Significant measures are policies where:

• costs are more than £20 million
• the issue has high media topicality or sensitivity
• there is a Better Regulation Task Force report or interest in the policy area, or
• there is likely to be a disproportionate impact on a particular group

RIAs include a Small Firms Impact Test. The Small Business Service, based in the DTI, can help you to contact suitable businesses early on to take informal soundings, or to set up a focus group. Their website is at www.sbs.gov.uk [External website] and you can phone them on 020 7215 8378.

RIAs also include analysis of impact on competition. Your departmental economists can help you to carry out a simple filter analysis, to help decide whether a full competition assessment may be needed. The Office of Fair Trading can also give help and advice on this. You can phone them on 020 7211 8500 or email competition.assessment@oft.gsi.gov.uk.

When writing an RIA, you need to consider all the impacts of the policy - such as effects on human rights, race or gender equality, or those who live in rural communities. As you work through each section of the online RIA guidance you will find links to useful contacts who can help you with that part of the RIA. You should also look in the Useful Contacts section of the RIA guidance.