What is it?
Better regulation is Government’s collective approach that ensures that when we regulate, we do so because it is the best way of:
- achieving the outcome we want; while
- avoiding unintended consequences; and
- keeping costs on the economy as low as possible
Good regulation is proportionate to the scale of the issue it addresses; those enforcing it are accountable to those it affects; it is consistent with other regulation and wider Government policy; it is targeted so that its impact is felt only where Government intended; and the way it works is transparent.
Better regulation is an integral part of high quality policy-making.
Why better regulation matters
- Because it can help Government to be more effective, by:
- pointing towards possible alternative, more effective, and less bureaucratic ways of delivering policy goals
- shaping regulatory interventions so that they do what we want them to do, in the most effective, least burdensome way
- Because, although it might seem so compared to tax and spending, regulation is never cost-free. Burdens are borne by businesses, consumers, employees, charities, and the taxpayer through costs of enforcement.
What does it mean for DECC?
Better regulation in DECC is managed by the Better Regulation Unit. DECC works closely with the Better Regulation Executive (BRE), part of the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS), who lead on the Government’s regulatory reform agenda.
DECC is wholly committed to improving regulation in the UK. The Department brought together two areas of policy making with strong 'evidence-based' cultures that have helped develop targeted policies to achieve the desired outcome effectively. We will continue to strengthen this culture across the Department and develop the institutional framework required so we can continue improving energy and climate change regulation.
We want to reduce red tape and legislative burdens on business, while maintaining standards of protection for the public, consumers, employees and organisations, as well as complying with our community obligations. This is key to raising Britain's productivity and worldwide competitiveness.
Reducing red tape
Energy and Climate Change minister Lord Marland wrote to businesses to ask them for suggestions of where DECC could reduce red tape:
2009 is the first year in which DECC is publishing a Simplification Plan as a stand-alone department. As a relatively new department DECC has worked hard to identify opportunities to reduce administrative burden, but at the same time has aimed to strike the right balance in introducing new regulation to achieve its climate change objectives.
DECC is committed to the Better Regulation agenda in general and to good policy design in particular and outlines how some of this commitment has materialised over the last simplification programme in this year’s Simplification Plan.
Related documents
Planned review dates of DECC guidance documents
In October 2009 Government published an updated Code of Practice on Guidance on Regulation, which applies to all new or revised guidance published since then. In order to provide information to DECC’s stakeholders about the plans for review, the department has compiled this spreadsheet (opens in Excel).