1.
Red Tape Challenge &
Open Policy Making
Charlotte Spencer, Cabinet Office
Sophie George, BIS
Neil Smith, Cabinet Office

2.
The Red Tape Challenge and Open Policy Making
Prime Minister, April 2011: “We need to tackle regulation with vigour
both to free businesses to compete & create jobs, and give people
greater freedom and personal responsibility”
• Deregulation tried before, but this time they meant it!
• One In One Out rule tackled ‘flow’, but still needed to ‘drain swamp’.
• Examining all [most] of the stock of inherited regulation,
grouped in themes e.g. Retail, Company Law
• Added Sept 2012 – target to find, by 2013,
3,000 regulations to scrap or reform.
2

3.
Open Policy Making...
• Crowd-sourcing
• Sector champions (including
at Star Chambers)
• Panels of ‘real’ businesses
• External ‘Challenge Panels’
• Twitter / social media
• LinkedIn group
• Alternatives to regulation
• Behaviour change
• International sharing

4.
External input helped drive the change
• Counter-cultural to many – surely key role of Whitehall to regulate?
• Lots of external input provided new ideas; new evidence; reality checks...
...and gave Ministers substance to challenge Depts’ defence of regulation.
•But combined with:
•Alignment with other incentives – the need to find ‘OUTs’ ; growth;
efficiency; Civil Service Reform, digital by default...
•Strong (and sustained) central and political momentum
•Pace - ambitious targets in tight timescales
•Supported by lean joint Cabinet Office/BIS team, partnering with Depts

5.
Doing policy-making & ‘challenge’ process a bit differently
• External input key to the challenge process and weaved in throughout
• Star Chamber meetings felt different
• officials (not Ministers) in front of Oliver Letwin & Michael Fallon
• the policy lead did the speaking (however junior)
• business presence (often)
Theme
launch;
Comms;
Sector
Champion;
People
comment
Dept’s
‘Coalitio RTC team
internal n
challenge
challenge Proofing’ meeting/s
processes
Star
Business Reducing Announce Dept.
implements
Regulation theme
Chamber Panel
Committee outcomes
(often
(Implementation
/ policy
with
Star Chambers;
clearance
Sector
secondary
Champ.)
repeals;
Deregulation
Bill)

6.
Crowdsourcing - useful comments
Adrian D. Greason-Walker
(May 23): This regulation
requires that no smoking
signs be placed at each
entrance to smoke-free
premises. The ban on
smoking in enclosed public
spaces has now been in force
for a number of years we see
little need for businesses to
continually replace signage
[..] The signs are also
unsightly as well as
unneeded
Mark Ramsden (May 5)
We cannot sell Christmas
crackers to under-16s
because they fall within the
scope of the legislation. Such
common and low-risk goods,
which we do not believe
were the intended focus of
the legislation, should be
exempted.
C Scales (May 26):
We wish to allow guests to preorder champagne for special
occasions (to be waiting for
them in a B&B room) or a bottle
of wine to go with their dinner
in the self-catering
accommodation – this is a
service (we are not next door to
pubs or shops) and unlikely to
create profit. For this we would
have to go through the same
licensing procedure and costs as
a pub.
Stephen Perrett (Nov 14): Extend the qualifying period to 2 years – compulsory
mediation like you are introducing in other areas such as divorce.

7.
The Successes
•5,669 regulations went through the process (target of 6,500)
•3,131 ‘scraps or improves’ with impact (target of 3,000) + 49 others not
attached to a particular regulation e.g. big rationalisation of Defra guidance
• 800 reforms implemented so far, saving business £300m per year
• In total the reforms should save business over £800m per year (plus other
savings not yet quantified, and savings to individuals and public bodies)
Big wins include:
•Introduced fees for Employment Tribunals (deters vexatious claims) and
doubled the qualifying period for unfair dismissal.
•Scrapped unnecessary H&S inspections for 100,000s low risk businesses.
•Changed collective redundancy rules to save businesses £66m a year.
•Equality Act: employers no longer liable for staff harassment by a 3rd
party.
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8.
UNCLASSIFIED
8

9.
UNCLASSIFIED
Challenges & Lessons
“Well, if it can be thought, it can be done, a problem can be overcome”
• Virtually the whole statute book was a lot! More targeted next time?
• Departments’ ability to push it – resources; Ministers; Coalition issues
• Parliamentary process – not designed for volume of reform
• Seeing things through to completion
• Communicating the success – some of this only Whitehall will appreciate;
& businesses still see new regulation (EU; govt policy priorities) coming in.
• Crowd-sourcing – needs a feedback loop. And didn’t replace need for
formal consultation on substantial changes.
• Data protection
9

10.
UNCLASSIFIED
Challenges & Lessons
“Well, if it can be thought, it can be done, a problem can be overcome”
• Virtually the whole statute book was a lot! More targeted next time?
• Departments’ ability to push it – resources; Ministers; Coalition issues
• Parliamentary process – not designed for volume of reform
• Seeing things through to completion
• Communicating the success – some of this only Whitehall will appreciate;
& businesses still see new regulation (EU; govt policy priorities) coming in.
• Crowd-sourcing – needs a feedback loop. And didn’t replace need for
formal consultation on substantial changes.
• Data protection
9