The RIAU Service Survey: Changes to Reflect the New RIA Regime
The Regulatory Impact Analysis Unit (RIAU) is interested in getting prompt feedback on its performance under the new Regulatory Impact Analysis (RIA) regime. The RIAU has amended the online survey form that sought feedback on the services it provides to authors of Regulatory Impact Statements and Business Compliance Cost Statements (RIS/BCCSs).
The survey [link to business.govt.nz website] has been used to seek confidential feedback from authors of RIS/BCCSs. It has recently been amended with a view to:
- reflecting the RIA regime that came into effect from April 2007, and
- targeting the sort of data that the RIAU will find useful to collect.
Main Changes in the Survey Form
The survey now follows the three-part focus of the regulatory impact analysis process, i.e. reviewing discussion documents, analysis, and RISs. It asks authors which part(s) of the process they were involved in, and seeks feedback on the usefulness of the comments provided by the RIAU at each stage.
The survey also contains new questions about the RIA guidance material. The RIAU would like to know how useful its new guidance documents are, and how easy they are to locate.
Importance of Prompt Feedback
The RIAU is hoping to collect survey feedback more promptly than it has done in the past, because:
- If the survey is filled out in the early stages of the new RIA regime, the feedback will enable the RIAU to assess the effectiveness of (and if necessary improve) its new methods.
- More prompt feedback is likely to be more accurate. The previous system for seeking feedback was simply to include a link to the survey in the adequacy statement template document. It turned out that the majority of RIS/BCCS authors needed a reminder before eventually filling it out. As the RIAU did not systematically provide reminders, some responses were made well after the author's proposal had been through the review process.
Gathering Feedback
To address the delay in responses to the survey, the RIAU plans to send the link to the survey twice; at the discussion document stage and after each review process. Given the potential for different people to be involved at these stages, this may be the best way to gather feedback under the new RIA regime.
After each review process, the intention is to provide reminders first two then four weeks after the RIAU has provided a final assessment, along with a statement as to why prompt feedback will be particularly useful.
Another Chance for Your Feedback
We are interested in receiving your feedback on how we go about receiving feedback. If you have any suggestions on how the RIAU might best seek responses to the RIAU Service Survey (or thoughts about what should be in the survey), please do not hesitate to let us know by emailing theregulatoryreview@med.govt.nz - your feedback is appreciated.
Will Murray
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