LONDON (Reuters) – Finance minister Rachel Reeves has urged Britain’s regulators to remove barriers to economic growth, tasking them with creating a regulatory environment that boosts investment and innovation.
In a meeting on Thursday, Reeves told the bosses of the competition, energy, water, media, aviation and railways watchdogs that economic growth was the “absolute top priority” for the government, the finance ministry said.
It comes as Britain’s Labour government, voted into power last July, grapples with a sluggish economy, which only grew 0.1% in November after contracting in September and October.
Reeves has also faced criticism from businesses after her tax-raising Oct. 30 budget, which included big increases in social security contributions paid by employers.
“Every regulator, no matter what sector, has a part to play by tearing down the regulatory barriers that hold back growth,” Reeves said.
“I want to see this mission woven into the very fabric of our regulators through a cultural shift from excessively focusing on risk to helping drive growth.”
The meeting follows a joint letter from Reeves and Prime Minister Keir Starmer to regulators, asking each of them to come up with proposals for five reforms to support economic growth in the coming year.
In total, 17 regulators will be called in to have their proposals scrutinised in the coming weeks, the finance ministry said.
While the regulators agreed in the meeting that they had a role to play in driving growth, they also highlighted some barriers, including their other legal responsibilities, it added.
Reeves also called on regulators to institute cultural change to deliver growth “instead of excessively focusing on risk.”
(Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar; Editing by Mark Potter)
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