The Better Regulation Commission was a

non-departmental public body In the United Kingdom, non-departmental public body (NDPB) is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive to public sector organisations that have a role in the process of ...

of the British government, independent of any government department but under the oversight of

Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR) was a United Kingdom government department. The department was created on 28 June 2007 on the disbanding of the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), and was itself disbande ...

. Its role, according to its Terms of Reference was "To advise the Government on action to reduce unnecessary regulatory and administrative burdens, and ensure that regulation and its enforcement are proportionate, accountable, consistent, transparent and targeted". The Commission closed in January 2008 and was replaced by the

Better Regulation Executive The Better Regulation Executive is a part of the British Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. It is in charge of regulatory reform across the British Government. A forerunner of the Executive was the Better Regulation Commis ...

Background

"Better regulation" had been a theme of government action in the United Kingdom since the establishment of an advisory Better Regulation Task Force in 1997. The task force was replaced by a permanent body, the Better Regulation Commission, on 1 January 2006 and the Government said it was committed to implementing its recommendations. The task force estimated the total cost of regulation to the UK economy at 10–12% of GDP, or £100 billion, taking into account the related policy work. The framework for action in the UK included principles, regulatory impact assessments, simplification plans, and post-implementation reviews.

The UK principles of better regulation

Five principles were identified by the Better Regulation Task Force in 1997 as the basic tests of whether any regulation is fit for purpose. ;Proportionality: Regulators should intervene only when necessary. Remedies should be appropriate to the risk posed, and costs identified and minimised. ;Accountability: Regulators should be able to justify decisions and be subject to public scrutiny. ;Consistency: Government rules and standards must be joined up and implemented fairly. ;Transparency: Regulators should be open, and keep regulations simple and user-friendly. ;Targeting: Regulation should be focused on the problem and minimise side effects. The

Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006 The Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006 (c51) (LRRA) is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It was enacted to replace the Regulatory Reform Act 2001 (RRA). The Act was and remains very controversial, because of a perception ...

Bill 111, Session 2005–06 was passed to establish statutory principles of good regulation based on the work of the task force. The Act obliges regulatory bodies to have regard to the principles and a code of practice.

Notes

{{reflist 2006 establishments in the United Kingdom Defunct non-departmental public bodies of the United Kingdom government Economics of regulation Organizations established in 2006 United Kingdom administrative law