Joe Hill
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jo3hill.bsky.social
Joe Hill
@jo3hill.bsky.social
Policy Director @re-state.bsky.social, Founder http://greaterlondon.co, Columnist in CityAM. ex Treasury. Views my own
These are just a few ideas, there are many more. State capacity is continually undermined by a broken regulatory system. If we can fix it, we can build a stronger state and a better economy. More from us @re-state.bsky.social on this soon - standby!
September 17, 2025 at 11:42 AM
5. Giving regulatory policy a stronger platform.

DBT is underpowered to corral the rest of government, in the face of strong vested interests in other departments which push for more regulation in their areas. Moving the agenda to the Cabinet Office, or even HMT, could give it more firepower.
September 17, 2025 at 11:42 AM
4. Encouraging new companies to enter regulated markets. The Government should go beyond the use of sandboxes like the FCA’s, and create the kind of “n+1 regulator” for new innovations which John Fingleton has argued for in the past.
September 17, 2025 at 11:42 AM
3. Rebuilding regulatory capacity. A Regulators Bill in the second session would be the right vehicle to rationalise the landscape of regulators, like the independent review of water has already recommended with Ofwat.
September 17, 2025 at 11:42 AM
2. Bringing in regulatory budgeting approaches, to manage the total impact of regulation on business.
September 17, 2025 at 11:42 AM
To win, the Government needs fresh ideas:

1. Strengthening the role of the Regulatory Policy Committee and impact assessments. Too many impact assessments show significant net negative present value, but still get passed.
September 17, 2025 at 11:42 AM
But they’ve said one thing, and done another. Instead of less, we’ve had more regulations, and more regulators, because of that ratchet effect.
September 17, 2025 at 11:42 AM
The Government has a good Action Plan, and a target of cutting cost by 25 per cent. Admittedly they target is focused on the narrowest definition of regulatory costs possible, but it’s a good start.
September 17, 2025 at 11:42 AM
But that’s not new. Plenty of governments have tried to reform regulation in the past. Most have recognised that there’s a ratchet effect that works in regulation - it’s easy to create more, and hard to get rid of old regulation. Over time, the trend only goes one way.
September 17, 2025 at 11:42 AM