The Hampton Report, which was published alongside yesterday's Budget, criticises the regulatory system in the UK for its inconsistency of decision-making, multiple
inspections, lack of comprehensive risk assessments and complexity of regulation.
The report's author, Sainsbury's chairman Philip Hampton, recommends that over the next two to four years 31 of the 63 national regulators should be consolidated into just seven organisations to create:-
- An expanded Environment Agency
- An expanded Health and Safety Executive
- And expanded Food Standards Agency
- A new consumer and trading standards agency
- A new integrated rural and countryside inspectorate
- A new agricultural health inspectorate
- A new animal health inspectorate
Environment Agency chief executive Barbara Young said: “I welcome the recognition that it is possible to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of regulation, reducing administrative burdens placed on business, without jeopardising the environmental standards and outcomes that society demands.
”It is possible to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of regulation, reducing administrative burdens placed on business, without jeopardising the environmental standards. “
– Baroness Barbara Young, Environment Agency
She said: “I think the Hampton report, and the allied report 'Less is more' from the Better Regulation Task Force, offer real opportunities for making regulation more efficient.”
Cllr Byrons Rudkin of the Local Government Association has promised to monitor the effectiveness of the new consumer and trading standards agency.
Though broadly welcoming the Hampton recommendations, she has stressed that public safety will continue to have top priority for councillors and said: “We intend to monitor the implementation of any changes to guarantee the independence and integrity of local regulatory services.
“We believe that integration will make life easier for local authorities ands business alike,” said Cllr Rudkin, who added: “It should put an end to local environmental health and trading standards departments being pulled in different directions by conflicting demands originating from different government departments.”
HSE
Bill Callaghan, chair of the Health and Safety Commission, has also endorsed the Hampton proposals and said: “We strongly welcome the recommendations to
increase penalties and to augment the range of sanctions available to our inspectors.
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“I am glad that the report has recognised the legitimacy of our partnership approach with local authorities. We have been working hard with our fellow local authority regulators to make effective partnerships.”
Mr Callaghan added: “We will need to work through the detail of these recommendations to establish exactly what changes we may need to introduce.”
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