Regulatory Impact Unit - The Teams

Europe Team | Economics Team | Public Sector Team | Scrutiny Team | Regulatory Reform Strategy Team | Business Regulation Team | Better Regulation Task Force

Europe Team

The Europe team works to improve the way European legislation is made and how they are transposed and implemented in the UK. The team works to maintain essential contact with EU officials and partners in other Member States. They organise seminars at home and abroad to spread the better regulation message and monitor progress on the better regulation front to hold EU institutions to their better regulation commitments.

More information about the work of the European Team can be found by visiting the Europe pages

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Economics Team

The Economics Team provides advice to RIU colleagues and officials in other government departments to help ensure that policy-making is evidence-based. This includes advising on the economic analyses in Regulatory Impact Assessments (RIAs) and assessing their quality. In addition it offers general economic support to all Teams in the RIU and works on ad hoc issues, such as the indicators of regulatory quality and the measurement of regulatory burdens. The Team seeks to promote better regulation and regulatory reform internationally; and is involved in the work of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) on regulatory reform and that of the European Commission on the evaluation of regulation.

More information about the work of the Economics Team can be found by visiting the Economic Analysis pages

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Public Sector Team

The Public Sector Team focuses on the removal of unnecessary bureaucracy and red tape in the public sector.

The team works with the key delivery departments to tackle the root causes of unnecessary bureaucracy and generates new ideas for bureaucracy reduction. This includes promotion of innovative approaches, such as frontline gateways; single datasets; and systems of earned autonomy.

Through its ‘Making a Difference’ reports, the team works with frontline staff, stakeholder groups and government departments to identify and remove unnecessary paperwork, complex procedures and other burdens that hamper the delivery of public services.

The team has developed a tailored consultancy function for departments to work on targeted burden-reduction activities, e.g. Special Educational Needs bureaucracy (with DfES); Police & Criminal Evidence Act paperwork (with Home Office); and Free School Meals simplification (with DWP and DFES).

More about the work of the Public Sector Team can be found on the Public Sector Team

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Scrutiny Team

Much of the work of the Scrutiny Team is carried out “behind the scenes,” working with individual policy makers and teams to improve the quality of evidence supporting proposed regulation and encourage robust appraisal. They also provide advice to Ministers, who take a keen interest in the RIA process, which has the full backing of the Prime Minister.

The Scrutiny Team reinforces and supports work within departments to ensure that new regulation is justified, meets the principles of better regulation and imposes the minimum burden on business, charities and the voluntary sector. They encourage departments to ensure that proposals are administered and enforced in the most cost-effective way.

Responsibility for each new policy proposal lies with departments but the Scrutiny Team seeks to ensure that the process of its formulation is robust and well informed, and that policy makers have considered all the options.

More about the work of the Scrutiny Team can be found on the Scrutiny Team pages

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Regulatory Reform Strategy Team

The Regulatory Reform Strategy Team provides
• Guidance and education in the Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) and Regulatory Reform Order (RRO) processes
• Monitors progress against the Regulatory Reform Action Plan (RRAP) of measures to reduce regulatory burdens across Whitehall
• Maintains information about government department compliance with the RIA process
• Provides the Secretariat to the Cabinet Committee responsible for regulatory reform issues
• Guidance and policy on Consultation, including the Code of Practice on Consultation

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Business Regulation Team

The Business Regulation Team aims to reduce the burden of existing regulation on the private sector by engaging directly with the business community to identify specific areas of concern and by delivering change through joint action plans agreed with relevant government departments.

More about the work of the Business Regulation Team can be found on the Business Regulation Team pages.

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Better Regulation Task Force

The Better Regulation Task Force, established in September 1997, is an independent body that advises Government on action to ensure that regulation and its enforcement are proportionate, accountable, consistent, transparent and targeted.

More about its work can be found on its website www.brtf.gov.uk

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