Business Secretary Greg Clark has outlined his commitment to building on the UK’s exceptional reputation for regulation by ensuring UK regulators are ready for the industries of the future, at the first Ministerial Working Group on Future Regulation.
The Group, which convened for the first time yesterday, is a key commitment in the UK’s modern Industrial Strategy and is responsible for ensuring the government can shape the right regulatory environment to put the UK at the forefront of future industries, from driverless cars to artificial intelligence. It will also take forward recommendations by the Prime Minister’s Council for Science and Technology on how to make the UK regulations more favourable to innovation.
The Council’s recommendations have been published, together with the government’s response. These include establishment of a new horizon-scanning function to ensure that regulation keeps pace with emerging technologies and better access to regulatory advice and support for innovators.
This group, which will meet on a quarterly basis, will be responsible for:
Strengthening the Government’s horizon scanning for emerging regulatory challenges arising from innovative products, services and business models
Commissioning departments to develop regulatory reform proposals to enable innovative products, services and business models
Promoting action by regulators to develop innovation-enabling regulatory approaches
Seeking to resolve complex regulatory issues that cross sectoral, departmental or regulator boundaries; and
Driving the exchange of best practice in innovation-enabling approaches across Whitehall