Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent impact assessment his Department has made of the potential cost of upcoming Government regulations on (a) businesses and (b) food prices.

The Government is committed to well-designed and effective regulation that achieves the right balance between supporting excellent business practice and protecting workers, consumers and the environment.

Impact assessments help to inform regulatory design that achieves those outcomes. Therefore, Government Departments, including the Treasury, produce and publish impact assessments for all new regulations in accordance with the rules of the Better Regulation Framework. Individual impact assessments for new regulations will assess evidence of impacts on businesses, food prices and other areas as is appropriate to the regulation in question.