In a bid to improve operations within the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) the Minister of State for Energy, Charles Hendry, has announced his intention to scrap 86 of the Department’s regulations while improving 48 regulatory regimes.
The announced reforms, which include simplifications to the European Emissions Trading Scheme and the Carbon Reduction Commitment regimes, aim to stimulate over £100 billion of new investment in the UK’s electricity sector and could support approximately 250,000 total jobs in electricity to 2030. Alongside other reforms this move is also expected to deliver businesses savings worth around £400 million over the next 20 years.
Commenting on the news Hendry said: “It is vital that we have a regulatory regime which promotes fairness and consumer and environmental protection, but does not impose unnecessary costs or barriers to generating the necessary investment, innovation and skills we need to build the low carbon economy.
“We have listened to our stakeholders as they suggested regulations which add cost or complexity without effectively leading to protections, and I am pleased to announce that DECC will scrap or improve 134 regulations.”
Supporting the planned changes, Terry A’Hearn, Regulation Lead of the Aldersgate Group said: “We welcome the Government's work in cutting back excessive and outdated regulation, whilst ensuring that protection of our environment remains as strong as ever.
“Smart regulation corrects market failures, drives innovation and provides the foundation for long-term economic growth, jobs and competitiveness and we congratulate DECC's recognition of the importance of prioritising these long-term outcomes.”
David Porter, Chief Executive of Energy UK, said: “We commend DECC for removing redundant legislation and for modifying a number of overly complex regulations. We are facing a huge challenge in reforming our electricity market, and this is a step in the right direction in creating a market structure that will help to deliver the jobs and investment we need, but this must be part of an on-going process.
“We would urge DECC to continue to remove unnecessary red tape, and to continue to improve legislation, as getting future energy policy right is more critical than ever.”
Ofgem is also planning to reduce regulatory burdens in its Simplification plan, published at the end of June. This plan includes actions to review information requests to businesses to avoid duplication, publish a schedule of future consultations and convene a roundtable group with industry and consumer representatives to review and improve consumer information on bills.