Recommendation 22

For savings to be credible they need to be verified. Savings reported by departments under the Business Impact Reduction Programme (2015–2023) were scrutinised by the Regulatory Policy Committee (RPC).52 This independence is particularly important given the variable quality of analysis produced by government departments. According to RPC analysis published in September 2025, almost one third (28%) of Impact Assessments reviewed since 2020 were either ‘weak’ or ‘very weak’.53