National Reform Programme

Thursday 24th March 2016 Written Statements

[The Financial Secretary to the Treasury (Mr David Gauke)]

On 24 March, the Government published the UK 2016 national reform programme. The document was sent to the European Commission, as part of the European semester.

National Reform Programme

Under Council recommendation 2010/410 of 13 July 2010, member states send national reform programmes each year, which report to the Commission on their structural reforms and plans.

The UK 2016 national reform programme reports on actions taken by the UK as a whole, including by the Government and by the devolved Administrations where policy responses are of a devolved competence.

The 2016 national reform programme:

puts the UK’s structural reforms in the context of deficit reduction, the 2015 autumn statement and Budget 2014

reports on the broad macroeconomic context

reports on policies to tackle the three country-specific recommendations addressed to the UK by the June 2015 European Council: correcting the deficit, boosting housing supply, and addressing skills mismatches and improving the availability of childcare

sets out the UK’s approach to national monitoring, in line with the five headline Europe 2020 targets agreed by the European Council in June 2010.

The national reform programme is based heavily on the announcements and forecasts of Budget 2016 and the autumn statement and spending review 2015. It is, furthermore, drawn entirely from information already in the public domain.

A copy of the document has been deposited in the House of Commons Library and is available on the Treasury website.

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