Reeves to meet regulators in drive to cut red tape

Regulators are being summoned to meet Chancellor Rachel Reeves on Monday 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 permits 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 Labour's taxes and trade union red tape were harming growth and called on Reeves to set out a "real plan".

Eight regulators including Natural England and the Environment Agency will meet the chancellor on Monday.

"Today we are taking further action to free businesses from the shackles of regulation," Reeves said. "By cutting red tape and creating a more effective system, we will boost investment, create jobs and put more money into working people's pockets."

The meeting follows the government abolishing NHS England, the world's biggest quango - short for a quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisation - last week.

In a statement on Monday, the government said "regulators must work for the people...not get in the way of progress".

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 "following weeks of intense negotiations" 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 £100 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 'concierge service' 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 - 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 "scrap duplication and give more power and tools to local leaders" so they can better deliver for their communities.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the move was the "beginning not the end" 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 - 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 Labour's taxes and trade union red tape were preventing businesses from focusing on growth.

"Rachel Reeves has nine days until her emergency budget, where the Conservatives are calling on her to set out a real plan for growth," Stride said.

Dr Roger Barker, policy director at the Institute of Directors, said it is "appropriate for the government to rebalance its approach with a pro-business orientation at its core" as "compliance with burdensome regulation is frequently cited by IoD members as one of the top factors having a negative effect on their businesses."