Select committee: Treasury Committee
Conclusion 18
Second Report - Edinburgh Reforms One Year On: Has Anything Changed?
Published 8 Dec 2023
Paragraph 59
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 Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 legislated for the creation of Cost Benefit (CBA) Panels dedicated to supporting the regulators in producing cost benefit analysis for each of their reforms. The Sub-Committee has consistently been of the view that the regulators’ cost benefit analysis did not capture the full costs faced by firms, nor did they adequately explain and quantify the benefits of the reforms they were proposing. We will continue to scrutinise the cost benefit Edinburgh Reforms One Year On: Has Anything Changed? 29 analysis of each proposal, and will pay close attention to the impact the CBA panels have, and whether they improve quality of the CBAs that are published in future.
From: Treasury Committee, Second Report - Edinburgh Reforms One Year On: Has Anything Changed? (HC 221), paragraph 59, 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.