Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on March 17, 2025
LONDON (Reuters) - British finance minister Rachel Reeves will meet financial, environmental and health regulators on Monday to unveil an "action plan" to cut red tape by reducing the number of bodies overseeing sectors seen as crucial to boosting economic growth.
Days after Prime Minister Keir Starmer said his government would abolish a body which oversees the state-funded health system in England to cut bureaucracy, Reeves will pledge to cut the administrative cost of regulation on business by a quarter.
"Today we are taking further action to free businesses from the shackles of regulation," Reeves said in a statement.
"By cutting red tape and creating a more effective system, we will boost investment, create jobs and put more money into working people's pockets."
Faced with tight public finances, Starmer and Reeves are trying to find savings but also unlock new ways to try to boost sluggish economic growth, which contracted in January.
At Monday's meeting with eight regulators, including the Financial Conduct Authority, Reeves will say environmental guidance will be looked at to end cases when infrastructure projects are delayed by demands such as protecting bat habitats.
The finance ministry said work would begin with major regulators, such as those in financial services, energy watchdog Ofgem and water regulator Ofwat, to have their legal duties slimmed down "so that they do not waste time satisfying redundant duties".
It said the new system would also support businesses to innovate with help from the Regulatory Innovation Office, which is looking at ways to bring new technologies to market more quickly.
(Reporting by Elizabeth Piper; Editing by Helen Popper)
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