Kemi Badenoch has set before parliament a white paper on regulation
I had hoped to find out an outsider’s view of the Pensions Regulator but was disappointed.
TPR is not within scope of the recent White Paper.
This seems to be because
“…. some regulatory bodies that have been excluded for specific reasons: (a) Financial services regulators – while these bodies meet our definition of a regulator, financial services regulation and financial services regulators were systematically reviewed via the Government’s Future Regulatory Framework Review and outcomes delivered through the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023. This has resulted in new solutions that correspond to many of the themes in this White Paper, including a new secondary growth and competitiveness objective in terms of the growth mandate, a new cost-benefit assessment system, and a new reporting on metrics by financial services regulators.”
Sadly , there is no mention of TPR in the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 either.
As my friend Derek observes
The “T” in TPR should be changed to “Teflon”.
He also points that TPR is “missing in action” from Open Finance’s January response to the BDT consultation.
Here however, Open Finance implies that open finance is smart by nature and reforming itself without the need of Government prompting. What need for regulators here..
We would also like to share examples from the financial services sector where we believe good practice can be mirrored in other industries.
Growth
The “new secondary growth objective” is interesting, I hope that competitiveness will come to the fore, but right now the most competitive area of pensions is in its “end-game“. That’s an odd one to create growth metrics for.
The big idea is laid out in a concise introduction that reads like a Demos pamphlet
the UK’s regulatory landscape is frequently held up as an example of international best practice. However, billions of pounds of regulatory costs have accumulated piecemeal on businesses, with some studies suggesting that the impact of red-tape costs could be as high as 3 to 4% of GDP, or £70 billion in 2023 prices. 45% of all businesses see regulation as a burden on their success. They are also increasingly telling us that the regulatory landscape is too complicated, slow and burdensome, with over 100 bodies involved in regulation and limited clarity on roles and responsibilities. This is not good enough
Could we do with a few less regulators? Probably, though that in itself would not make regulation “good enough“.
if the UK economy is to grow and we are to create the technologies that will allow us to improve our productivity, we need to review how regulations are made and administered in the UK. We also have a unique opportunity, following our departure from the EU, to set our own rules and standards, and do it in a way which allows businesses to flourish, investment to grow, and innovation to thrive
We are a few years on from Brexit and it could equally be argued that taking three years to write a paper about setting our own rules and standards, is a failure not just of regulation but of Government.
The Growth Agenda, which seems to dominate the political landscape – both left and right, appears to be in the hands of regulators (to which we can add in TPR)
for the first time, the government is defining what a regulator is. To ensure that regulators are transparent in how they are meeting the Growth Duty[footnote 3], we are also setting standards for regulators reporting on economic growth, introducing clearer measurements of the cost of regulation, and setting the tone for how all who are involved in regulation – be they government, regulators or other bodies – should adhere to the highest quality of service.
The great champion of the people against TPR, Robin Ellison should be rolling his eyes at this point of his reading of the paper.
The Government’s solutions to the problems discussed so far are outlined as three headlines
The UK regulatory landscape requires improvement to encourage innovation, investment and growth
A culture of a world-class service
Getting the fundamentals right on guidance, duties, and accountability
If these are manifesto pledges, then they will not be easy to keep between now and the end of the year. Even were Government to remain in the Conservative’s control, but I suspect these are no more than the posturings of an outgoing Government, keen to create a platform for opposition.
Either way, it is disappointing that, after so much has been said from the Mansion House and the floor of Parliament, that pension regulation , gets so little scrutiny. Here lies the opportunity for a new Government , keen to turn the “Growth Agenda” into genuine economic growth.