§ Lord Razzallasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will provide full details of the procedure undertaken by the Cabinet Office in auditing the regulatory impact assessments received from each Government department on a monthly basis including (a) what criteria impact assessments are measured against; and (b) whether impact assessments have been referred back to their original departments for further consideration. [HL5659]
§ Lord Macdonald of TradestonA list of regulatory impact assessments produced by departments, as reported monthly to the Cabinet Office, is published in a six-monthly command paper. (There is no formal audit of regulatory impact assessments.)
The Cabinet Office Regulatory Impact Unit works closely with departmental regulatory impact units and departmental officials to help departments to prepare robust regulatory impact assessments assessing the impact of proposals that are likely to have an effect on business, charities and the voluntary sector. The Cabinet Office also issues guidance to departments on producing regulatory impact assessments. This guidance forms the basis of the criteria that the Regulatory Impact Unit uses to scrutinise regulatory impact assessments.