Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, whether his Department plans to require routine independent assessments of regulatory costs.

Assessments of regulatory costs that departments produce as part of the options assessments for major regulatory provisions within the scope of the Better Regulation Framework are subject to independent scrutiny by the Regulatory Policy Committee. On 13 March, the Prime Minister issued a new target for the government to cut the costs of regulation to business. This target for government departments and regulators will lead to less red tape and greater economic growth. The government will bring forward its plans to meet the target and its method for assessing progress towards it later this year.