Scrutiny and accountability are the bedrock to positive regulatory outcomes. Without these measures, it would be impossible for regulators to perform their duties diligently in aiding a fairer and prosperous economy. However, one question that’s rarely asked is who regulates the regulators?

This is a question recently raised by the UK House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee in a report titled ‘Who watches the watchdogs?’

Currently, parliament and its committees are expected to scrutinise and hold regulators to account, as part of their duties as a representative. However, with around 90 regulators currently operating in the UK, the report states that, with parliament’s limited resources, “too often scrutiny is reactive to publicity rather than systematic or timely”.

The Solution?

To resolve this challenge and to hold regulators to account, the Committee’s report suggests a new independent statutory body is needed to plug the gap. Peers suggest the body should be called the “Office for Regulatory Performance” with the objective to advise and support parliament and its committees in holding regulators to account. The office would be tasked with producing reports on regulators performance, which would aid parliament’s scrutiny of regulators and regulatory standards.

The body would be funded by the UK Parliament and the committee claim it would be “money well spent… given the fundamental importance of effective and regular public accountability”.

Conversely, the Chair of the UK Public Accounts Committee, Meg Hillier, has expressed concerns about the plans warning the Committee of the “danger” that the body could create as other parts of the scrutiny system may believe “it is not their job to look at regulators”.

One matter that should be acknowledged is that this report highlights an important point of discussion. Who regulates the regulators? And are they effectively scrutinising regulators and holding them to account?
These questions are asked and discussed during our training programme Regulation: Strategies, Frameworks and Tools for Impact. A four-day course taking place on 10th – 13th June 2024. Click here for more information on the course and you can register your interest in the course here.