Reeves summons regulators to No 10 in drive for cuts to red tape

Regulators are being summoned to No 10 on Monday to meet Chancellor Rachel Reeves as the government moves to slash bureaucracy and cut the cost of regulation for business by a quarter.
The government will also announce plans to streamline environmental permitting and cut red tape it says blocks new housing and infrastructure, as well as unveil 60 regulator-agreed measures to boost economic growth.
Her actions come alongside plans to scrap or slim down some regulators, and follow Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announcing last week that NHS England would be abolished.
The Conservatives said Labourâs taxes and trade union red tape were harming growth and called on Reeves to set out a âreal planâ.
Eight regulators including Natural England and the Environment Agency will meet the chancellor on Monday.
âToday we are taking further action to free businesses from the shackles of regulation,â Reeves said. âBy cutting red tape and creating a more effective system, we will boost investment, create jobs and put more money into working peopleâs pockets.â
The meeting follows the government abolishing NHS England, the worldâs biggest quango â short for a quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisation â last week.
In a statement on Monday, the government said âregulators must work for the peopleâŠnot get in the way of progressâ.
Changes expected to be announced include streamlining the environmental regulatory process for major projects including Lower Thames Crossing (subject to planning approval) and future ones such as a Heathrow expansion.
Environmental guidance, including hundreds of pages on bats, is expected to be reviewed, while environmental permits for some low-risk and temporary projects will be removed.
This plan comes alongside 60 measures agreed upon by watchdogs âfollowing weeks of intense negotiationsâ that are designed to make it easier to do business in the UK.
Those measures include:
- Fast-tracking new medicines through a pilot to provide parallel authorisations from healthcare regulators
- Reviewing the ÂŁ100 cap on individual contactless payments
- Simplifying mortgage lending rules to make it easier to re-mortgage with a new lender and reduce mortgage terms
- Setting up a âconcierge serviceâ to help international financial services firms navigate regulations
- Civil Aviation Authority permitting at least two more large drone-flying trials for deliveries in the coming months â which the government said has already cut travel times for blood samples between hospitals from 30 minutes down to two minutes
In abolishing NHS England last week, politicians said they wanted to âscrap duplication and give more power and tools to local leadersâ so they can better deliver for their communities.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the move was the âbeginning not the endâ and he wants to slim down bloated bureaucracy, meaning more quangos could go.
The government has already announced plans to fold another quango, the Payments Systems Regulator, into the Financial Conduct Authority.
On Monday, Reeves will announce the abolition of a third â the Regulator for Community Interest Companies, which will be folded into Companies House.
The chancellor has promised to significantly cut the number of regulators by the end of the Parliament.
Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride said that Labourâs taxes and trade union red tape were preventing businesses from focusing on growth.
âRachel Reeves has nine days until her emergency budget, where the Conservatives are calling on her to set out a real plan for growth,â Stride said.
Dr Roger Barker, policy director at the Institute of Directors, said it is âappropriate for the government to rebalance its approach with a pro-business orientation at its coreâ as âcompliance with burdensome regulation is frequently cited by IoD members as one of the top factors having a negative effect on their businesses.â