Can the UK “regulate for growth”? BTC questions regulators and minister on failures, reform, and the future of regulatory oversight
Regulatory failures have shaken public trust and undermined UK economic resilience.
Meeting details
From pensions scandals to leaking water pipes and rivers running with sewage to collapsing energy firms, the UK’s national regulators are under fire.
This week, the Business and Trade Committee interrogates whether regulators like the FCA, Ofgem, Ofwat, and the CMA are fit to deliver on a bold new government mandate to “regulate for growth”.
They’ll be joined by minister Justin Madders MP and Lord Willetts to ask: can these institutions really balance their duties to protect the public and the environment, enforce fair markets - and now to drive economic productivity?
The Government’s ambition is clear: regulators must promote the conditions that attract investment and boost growth. But concerns are mounting. The former CMA chair stood down reportedly over a lack of “growth focus”, reflecting wider unease. A 2022 survey found nearly half of UK businesses saw regulation as a barrier to success—up sharply from just two years prior.
Now the Committee is asking:
- Are regulators equipped and resourced to meet this new mission?
- Do they have the expertise to balance competing priorities in environmental and consumer protection with economic growth?
- And if not, what must change to restore confidence and unlock the UK’s potential?