Policy impact assessments need reform, says think-tank

19 Aug 04
Independent bodies rather than ministers should judge whether the costs of a policy change justify its benefits, according to a leading think-tank.

20 August 2004

Independent bodies rather than ministers should judge whether the costs of a policy change justify its benefits, according to a leading think-tank.

A Social Market Foundation report published this week says that the culture in Whitehall is such that neither ministers nor their advisers give regulatory impact assessments proper consideration.

'We need to get to a position where regulatory impact assessment informs the policy-making process rather than justifies it,' the report's author, Charles Miller, said. The SMF wants the National Audit Office or the Audit Commission to take over the evaluation of RIAs. It also believes that any decisions to act against these recommendations should be open to legal challenge.

Following on from the Bank of England's independence, the think-tank would also like a review of the scope for removing ministers from the policy process without harming democratic accountability.

The August 16 report, Accountable government, brings together industry gripes about the way Whitehall and Parliament operate into a 20-point list of 'reasonably simple' actions that could be taken to improve transparency.

'All the things we're looking at can easily be done. It's not as if we're looking for major constitutional change,' Miller told Public Finance. Whitehall often failed to follow industry's lead in keeping to timetables and making prompt decisions, he said, citing the example of Ofwat. This regulator had 'worked rigorously' to produce timely decisions on industry price caps but then heard nothing once they had been submitted to government.

Such indecision can frustrate and panic industry, Miller warned. 'When things don't happen, outsiders tend to think in terms of conspiracy rather than cock-up,' he said. 'It's an unnecessary curb on investment and corporate strategy.'

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