Select committee: Treasury Committee
Conclusion 1
Second Report - Edinburgh Reforms One Year On: Has Anything Changed?
Published 8 Dec 2023
Paragraph 17
Addressed to HM Treasury
Treasury Committee The Edinburgh Reforms All items in this report Report on parliament.uk ↗ Inquiry on parliament.uk ↗
Conclusion (the committee's words)
The full Committee has previously concluded in its report on the Future of financial services regulation that “there should be a secondary objective for both the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority to promote long-term economic growth” but that “pursuing international competitiveness in the short term is unlikely to lead to economic growth or international competitiveness in the long term if it is achieved by weakening the UK’s strong regulatory standards.” The Sub-Committee’s opinion is that completing all 31 strands of the Edinburgh Reforms is a vital step towards addressing examples of over-zealous regulation that disadvantage British companies.
From: Treasury Committee, Second Report - Edinburgh Reforms One Year On: Has Anything Changed? (HC 221), paragraph 17, 8 December 2023
Government response
Fourth Special Report - Edinburgh Reforms One Year On: Has Anything Changed?: Further Government Response to the Committees Second Report Fourth
The government responded to the whole report on 26 April 2024 (deadline 8 February 2024).
Second Special Report - Edinburgh Reforms One Year On: Has Anything Changed? Government Response to the Committee’s Second Report
Published 21 February 2024.
Summary written by Accountability Index from the government's response. It is not the government's own words.The government disagrees with "a number of the Report's conclusions" and says it is "squarely focused on delivery" of the Edinburgh Reforms.
- The Economic Secretary "particularly" rejects any suggestion that the reforms will not have a substantial impact on the UK economy and financial services competitiveness, or that they could be "responsibly delivered any faster".
- It "strongly agree[s]" with the Committee that reform should be evidence-based and involve consultation, and says the Treasury is "striving to balance" pace with "appropriate time for consultation and implementation".
- It states that, as of 6 October, 21 of the 31 Edinburgh Reforms commitments "have been delivered", and lists further progress since the report, including the Digital Securities Sandbox Regulations laid on 18 December 2023.
- No new dated commitments are made; the Economic Secretary says he "remain[s] focused on delivering these reforms" and expresses confidence that they are promoting growth and competitiveness.