The House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee has opened an inquiry focusing on the relationship between regulators and the Government and how regulators are held accountable, including by Parliament.
The Committee is encouraging individuals and organisations to submit evidence on a wide range of areas, including:
- the roles and remits of regulators
- the balance between the responsibilities of regulators and those of the Government
- guidance given by the government to regulators
- the independence and effectiveness of regulators as well as their skills and expertise
- cooperation between regulators
- the role of Parliament in scrutinising regulators
- scrutiny, accountability and transparency of regulators
- performance metric and international comparators.
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Lord Hollick, chair of the Industry and Regulators Committee, said: “The Committee has recently conducted scrutiny of regulators including Ofwat, Ofgem, The Pension Regulator, Financial Conduct Authority, Prudential Regulation Authority and the Office for Students.
“A common area of concern arising from all these inquiries is the relationship between the regulator and the Government, and the level of independence and accountability regulators have. Many regulators are public bodies funded by the taxpayer and have significant powers; it is therefore vital that they are scrutinised and held to account.
“This short, cross-cutting inquiry will shine a light on the UK regulatory ecosystem and how effective it is.”
The deadline for submitting evidence is Friday 1 December. Questions and details of how to submit evidence are available on the Committee’s website.