Background
7. Since the Review was announced in May 2006, the identification of a fast tracking vehicle to progress legislative and regulatory amendments as expediently as possible has been a key component of the Review [CAB Min (06) 18/3].
8. Officials have been asked to develop the option of a one-off Omnibus Bill. On that basis, officials were also instructed to identify proposals which could be included in such a bill as the Review progresses. This is consistent with the Review's approach that whenever possible and sensible, solutions to issues will be implemented as they arise, rather than waiting till the end of the review.
9. The first set of proposed legislative amendments as set out in a report entitled "Quality Regulation Review: First Tranche of Legislative Amendments" was agreed to by the Cabinet on 30 April [CAB Min (07) 14/1]. The first set of proposals is contained in Annex 1 to this paper. The Committee also noted that further proposals were expected to be developed prior to the final Review Report [CBC Min (07) 8/23].
10. Following Cabinet's agreement to progress the first set of proposals for an Omnibus Bill, Government agencies were further invited to provide additional details of legislative and regulatory proposals consistent with the objectives of the Review.
Comment
11. There are three main reasons why regulatory proposals contained in this paper and the previously agreed to proposals (Annex 1) should be consolidated into a one-off Omnibus Bill.
- It will demonstrate the aggregate impact of many proposals to reduce the regulatory load.
- It is administratively more efficient to progress uncontroversial but important amendments identified by the Review through an Omnibus Bill.
- It will provide a clear focus of timeframes for policy work for departments on proposals for addressing these issues.
12. The overall package proposed demonstrates the scope adopted by the Review. This approach can be characterised by its commitment to making many small gains to improve the quality of regulation, particularly where their implementation and administration add unnecessarily to business compliance costs. A detailed discussion on each proposal follows.
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