Peers to review independence and accountability of UK regulators

On 19 October 2023, the House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee announced it was launching a "cross-cutting and thematic inquiry into UK regulators." This latest inquiry follows scrutiny of Ofgem, Ofwat and the Office for Students.

Lord Hollick, who chairs the Committee, said: “A common area of concern arising from all these inquiries is the relationship between the regulator and the Government, and the level of independence and accountability regulators have."

To this end, the Committee's Call for Evidence includes questions relating to:

• the respective roles of the Government and regulators
• whether there is sufficient independence between the Government and regulators
• what mechanisms and metrics might be used to hold regulators accountable.

The inquiry will also consider whether the regulators have the requisite skills, capabilities and expertise to perform their functions.

The inquiry's first public session is being held on 24 October 2023 and will take oral evidence from Gareth Davies and Richard Sullivan-Jones of the National Audit Office, Lord Andrew Tyrie (former Chair of the Competition and Markets Authority and former Chair of the Treasury Select Committee) and Charles Randell CBE (former Chair of the Financial Conduct Authority).

Contributions to the inquiry should be made by 1 December 2023.