Defra confirms pro-growth review of its regulation and regulators

As widely trailed, Defra has announced that economist Dan Corry will lead a review of departmental regulation and regulators, with a view to equipping them to drive growth.

An announcement said the review will examine “whether the inherited regulatory landscape is fit for purpose and develop recommendations to ensure that regulation across the Department is driving economic growth while protecting the environment”.

Specifically, the review will explore:

• Whether Defra regulators are equipped to drive economic growth, secure private sector investment and protect the environment.

• The customer and stakeholder experience of regulation, including the impact on those who are regulated.

• The efficiency of regulation, in particular whether the current regulatory landscape involves any duplication and/or contradiction, and whether there are opportunities to make improvements.

Corry served as head of the Number 10 Policy Unit under former prime minister Gordon Brown and was an adviser in many government departments where he was involved in regulatory reform.

Defra added that the review is part of wider work to position it as a key economic growth department.

A number of environmental groups have sounded the alarm. For instance, Greenpeace UK’s director of policy Dr Doug Parr said: “It’s concerning to see regulations being put in a separate column to ‘economic growth’. Regulations are a last defence for our few remaining wild places, countless species, our seas and waterways, and all of the value they provide to society… If Dan Corry’s role is genuinely to make regulations more efficient, we wish him luck. But the mood music sounds concerningly like the ‘bonfire of red tape’ so often touted by the last government.”

Ruth Chambers, senior fellow at Green Alliance, said: “Defra’s regulators need more resources and a confidence boost, after years of neglect and underfunding. The review should focus on those areas where the potential for economic growth is the greatest, for example on regulations that can help us move towards a circular economy and developing nascent nature markets.”