Growth duty for non-economic regulators


A new statutory “growth duty” for “non-economic regulators” (including the HSE) came into force (via the Deregulation Act 2015) in March 2017. Section 108 of the Act requires these regulators to “have regard to the desirability of promoting economic growth” when exercising their regulatory function and to ensure that regulatory action is “taken only when needed” and is “proportionate”. The new “growth duty” only applies to regulatory powers exercised by the Westminster government. It does not apply to devolved matters in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland. It applies to all the regulatory functions exercised by the HSE. 


The new duty, which came into effect on 27 March 2017, belongs to the deregulatory agenda of the last government; the accompanying guidance explains how it forms part of the overall aim to “cut £10 billion of regulatory burdens over the lifetime of this Parliament”. 


The guidance states that “economic growth is an outcome that all regulators should be working towards”, and that the new duty should assist regulators in understanding their priorities “before allocating resources, setting enforcement policies, and making sanctioning decisions” and should “encourage regulators to develop more mature and productive relationships with those sectors and businesses that they regulate, driving up the accountability of regulators to the business community”.