Duty to Review Regulatory Provisions
50.The Act strengthens existing arrangements for ensuring that new regulations affecting business are subject to periodic review. In 2011, the Government set out its policy requiring a statutory review provision to be included in certain categories of new legislation, placing a legal obligation on the relevant Minister to carry out a review of the legislation and publish a report setting out the conclusions within five years of the legislation coming into force. There are now several hundred pieces of legislation in force that contain such a provision.
51.The measures in the Act strengthen these arrangements by creating a statutory obligation on Ministers to include a review provision, except in circumstances where a review is not appropriate.