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Simon Carne's avatar

Fascinating piece, Martin.

In addition to the independence of the appointment process, there is also the question of the extent to which the regulators remain independent from government and from politicians (eg Select Committees) when making decisions that are politically sensitive.

I don't think regulators (or anyone, for that matter) like being berated by a Minister or by a Select Committee member determined to make a "gotcha" point that might make it to the TV News. For that reason, it must be very difficult to resist going along with the popular political direction of the day and my sense is that at least some of our regulators have given in on matters they might have resisted.

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Martin Stanley 🇺🇦's avatar

Thanks Simon - and I agree.

I appreciate that some regulators - education? health? - are working in areas where ministers are bound to feel highly responsible. Others - Ofgem, Ofwat - have been loaded with so many objectives and responsibilities that they have in effect become government departments.

But, even putting those factors on one side, today's regulators are certainly much more worried about being criticised than were their predecessors. They particularly hate losing in court which weakens their enforcement activity.

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Diana Goldsworthy's avatar

Excellent timing Martin!

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