Chancellor urges regulators to ‘tear down’ red tape in bid for growth
It came after fresh data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that the UK economy grew by a weaker-than-expected 0.1% in November.
Rachel Reeves has urged regulators to “tear down” red tape in a bid for stronger economic growth.
The under-pressure Chancellor and the Business Secretary met with bosses of watchdogs covering the railways, water, energy, and aviation sectors on Thursday.
She told the bosses that they must “tear down regulatory barriers” in an effort to support business investment and innovation to boost the UK’s growth prospects.
It came after fresh data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed that the UK economy grew by a weaker-than-expected 0.1% in November.
This followed marginal declines in the two previous months.
The meeting also came after a turbulent period for the Chancellor, who has faced pressure over a jump in Government borrowing costs and weakness in the pound – although these have both eased over the past two days.
Last month, the Prime Minister and other Government officials wrote to regulators asking them to each propose five reforms to support growth in the coming year.
The Government said 17 regulators will be called in to have their proposals scrutinised over the coming weeks.
At Thursday’s meeting, the regulators highlighted that there are “some barriers, including the need to balance growth with their other legal responsibilities” in response to the calls from the Chancellor.
The Treasury said the Chancellor found some proposals “promising”, but “wanted to see greater ambition and urgency to drive economic growth”.
Ms Reeves said: “There’s no substitute for growth.
“Every regulator, no matter what sector, has a part to play by tearing down the regulatory barriers that hold back growth.
“I want to see this mission woven into the very fabric of our regulators through a cultural shift from excessively focusing on risk to helping drive growth.”
The boss of water regulator Ofwat was among those hearing the Chancellor’s calls for regulatory barriers to be cut back.
It comes despite widespread criticism of the watchdog amid growing public anger over sewage spills and rising customer bills.
