The House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee has announced that its next inquiry will "scrutinise" the relationship between regulators and the Government, and how regulators are held accountable, including by Parliament.
The Committee is encouraging interested individuals and organisations to submit evidence on the following areas:
• the roles and remits of regulators;
• the balance between the responsibilities of regulators and those of the Government;
• guidance given by the government to regulators;
• the independence of regulators;
• co-operation between regulators;
• the skills and expertise of regulators;
• the role of Parliament in scrutinising regulators;
• scrutiny, accountability and transparency of regulators;
• the effectiveness of regulators;
• performance metrics;
• international comparators.
Lord Hollick, chair of the Industry and Regulators Committee, said:"The Committee has recently conducted scrutiny of regulators including Ofwat, Ofgem, The Pension Regulator, Financial Conduct Authority, Prudential Regulation Authority, and the Office for Students.
"A common area of concern arising from all these inquiries is the relationship between the regulator and the Government, and the level of independence and accountability regulators have. Many regulators are public bodies funded by the taxpayer and have significant powers; it is therefore vital that they are scrutinised and held to account.
"This short, cross-cutting inquiry will shine a light on the UK regulatory ecosystem and how effective it is."
