Better regulation
The Government has an ambitious agenda to change the attitudes and approaches of public bodies to regulation and to their customers. It is led by the Better Regulation Executive (BRE) and is based upon the Hampton Review of 2005.
Principles for better regulation
The Hampton Review looked at the current regulatory system and set out some key principles
that should be consistently applied by all public bodies with regulatory functions. This includes Natural England.
The Better Regulation Executive (BRE), part of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), has defined five key principles of regulation, which are now a cornerstone of the way that public bodies should use their regulatory powers.
Natural England will follow the five principles and will be:
- consistent: in the way that regulation is undertaken
- proportionate: a balanced, tiered approach will be applied to enforcement incidents
- transparent: customers should be encouraged to comply with the law, and will understand what action we will take if the law is breached
- accountable: we will adhere to the principles above and justify our choice of regulatory action, publishing both outputs and outcomes
- targeted: risk assessment should be used to concentrate resources in the areas that need them most. Those customers that regularly comply will benefit from ‘light touch’ regulation.
In addition, following its consultation last year, the Government has published a Statutory Code of Practice for Regulators (the Regulators’ Compliance Code). The Code came into force in England in April 2008.
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Natural England's regulatory strategy
How is Natural England approaching the Government regulatory reform agenda?
