Labour would set up a new pro-innovation body to set targets for
tech regulators, to end uncertainty for businesses,
turbocharge output, and boost economic growth.
British innovators and businesses are developing new
world-leading products and services, powered by technologies like
artificial intelligence. But they face a mountain of red
tape just to get started, which can mean requiring approval from
up to 11 different regulators.
Businesses currently face a huge delay in getting decisions on
new products and services - the MHRA had a backlog of 966
clinical trial applications earlier this year. This means
patients missing out on new life-saving medical treatments.
Today, Labour is announcing a new Regulatory Innovation
Office (RIO) to hold regulators
accountable for these delays.
The RIO will:
- set and monitor targets for regulatory approval
timelines, benchmarked against international comparators
- provide strategic steers for what activity regulators should
be prioritising, drawing on priorities from Labour’s industrial
strategy
- support a beefed-up Regulatory Horizons
Council, with a new requirement for government to
respond to its reports within a set time period
These changes would speed up regulatory decisions, with benefits
across the economy. For example, the new Office would help
tackle the NHS backlog by accelerating the approval of clinical
trials, delivering better access for patients to the latest
treatments.
This announcement comes on top of Labour’s commitment to reduce
red tape and speed up decision-making in the research funding
system. Together with our plans to unlock capital for start-ups
and scale-ups, these changes would help make Britain the
best place in the world to set up an innovative business.
, Shadow
Science, Innovation and Technology Secretary said:
“New technology can be used to grow the economy and deliver
better treatments to patients. Good regulation is essential
to build safety and public trust, but decisions need to be made
quickly.
“Whether it’s regulatory backlogs or red tape in the funding
system, under the Tories our businesses and
innovators face dither and delay, which mean many set
up shop in other countries.
“Labour’s Regulatory Innovation Office would make Britain the
best place in the world to innovate by speeding up decisions and
providing clear direction based on our modern
industrial strategy. This will get the economy growing and
give Britain its future back.”
Ends
Notes
Labour will create a Regulatory Innovation Office (RIO) to
improve accountability and promote innovation. It would bring
together the Better Regulation Executive and the secretariat for
the Regulatory Horizons Council, taking on their functions.
In addition, it would take on the following functions.
The RIO would set and monitor targets for regulatory
approval for innovative products and services
- Many regulators currently set targets for the speed of
processing regulatory approvals. Regulators such as the FCA and
MHRA publish performance data on how long it is taking them to
process regulatory decisions.
- Under this proposal, the RIO would set targets for
regulatory decisions, which could be benchmarked against
international comparators.
- The RIO would monitor regulators’ performance against these
targets, collating and publishing data. This would make the
regulators more accountable
to the government, parliament and
the public.
The RIO would also set strategic priorities for
regulators, so they can better prioritise activity.
- Labour will introduce a modern industrial
strategy, for which regulation is a key lever. This
industrial strategy will set clear priorities across the economy.
- Under this proposal, government will translate these
industrial strategy priorities into specific steers for
regulators. For example, the steer could prioritise regulatory
approvals for a particular priority technology.
- This would allow regulators to speed up decision-making in
key areas within their existing resource levels.
The RIO would support a beefed-up Regulatory Horizons
Council.
- The Regulatory Horizons Council was set up in 2019 to advise
the government on regulatory reform needed to support the rapid
and safe introduction of new technologies with high potential
benefit.
- It was set up to help address the problem of innovations that
are too rapid and cross-sectoral for existing regulators to
effectively deal with.
- The Council’s work is seen as being of high quality. However,
little attention has been paid to much of its work,
which can leave UK regulation lagging behind our
counterparts.
