RPC opinions, and costs and benefits of regulations - 2010 - 2015
The validated costs and benefits of regulations, and associated RPC opinions, for 2010 to 2015
Regulatory proposals are accompanied by an impact assessment (IA), which assesses and estimates the likely costs and benefits, as well as presenting the associated risks, of a regulatory proposal that has an impact on business, civil society organisations, the public sector or individuals.
Following scrutiny of an IA the RPC provides an opinion on the quality of analysis and evidence presented in the IA. This opinion then informs the decisions of ministers as to whether or not they should proceed with the proposal. All the opinions published by the RPC during 2010 to 2015 can be found here for green and amber-rated ‘for for purpose’ opinions , and here for red-rated ‘not fit for purpose’ opinions.
As part of the independent scrutiny of an IA the RPC examines the costs and benefits to business that are included in the IA. These are included in the IA as an estimated equivalent annual net cost to business (EANCB). The EANCB is the annualised net cost (or benefit) of a proposal. Using the EANCB of measures enables a comparison of different policies in a consistent manner so that they can be compared meaningfully. A negative EANCB means the policy is net beneficial to business. All the costs and benefits of regulations validated by the RPC during 2010 to 2015 can be found here.