The RPI operates a strict ‘public domain test’ before embarking upon projects; the authors must be able to make the results of any study available to the public, or, if not, the study must be for a body with a public service remit (such as a government department, regulatory agency, inter-governmental organisation, charity, etc.). Dissemination of research results may be via books, journals, discussion papers, and reports.
Project reports are published in this section, and the project will ultimately involve full publication of all public domain RPI reports.
This Report provides an account of the development of GB energy and environmental policies over recent decades, with a focus on the extent to which they have worked together to bring about best-feasible trade-offs between major policy objectives such as reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and promotion of the long-term interests of energy consumers
This Report evaluates current National Health Service procurement arrangements for nutritional supply services in England. The principal focus is on contractual procurement of these services in the secondary care sector, but, since the economic effects of the secondary sector arrangements and their implications for the NHS depend crucially on how they function alongside primary care arrangements, it is necessary also to take account of the latter. Specifically, the assessment takes particular account of the economic linkages between procurement decisions in the two sectors, which give rise to a number of important issues and questions.
Entry, exit and firm restructuring are important aspects of the ability of any market to respond and adapt to changing circumstances. The capacity to respond and adapt relatively quickly – often referred to as flexibility – is important for the effective performance of a market, particularly in periods of substantial change.
The study is concerned chiefly with barriers to entry, exit and ‘mobility’ (which includes business restructuring such as a merger) that may be caused or exacerbated by regulatory requirements, with particular reference to the barriers facing small solicitors’ practices
The Regulatory Policy Institute was commissioned by the Legal Services Board (LSB), supported by the Law Society, to undertake a study of possible barriers to (a) entry, (b) exit, and (c) changes in the business structures of regulated solicitors’ firms/practices in England and Wales; and the findings of this study are set out in what follows. The focus of the work is, as was requested, on small solicitors’ practices, with particular attention given to the consideration of barriers to change that might either be caused or exacerbated by current regulatory arrangements, or that might be amenable to reduction via modification of those arrangements.
This report assesses the economic significance of the professional legal services sector in the European Union.1 Its purpose is to contribute to current understanding of the linkages between the sector and economic performance, and to help inform the assessment of policy proposals relating to the future regulation of legal services.
This report constitutes our assessment of Guernsey’s utility regulatory system as applied to the regulation of electricity, post and telecoms, and it includes recommendations for change to improve the framework and conduct of regulation. Although initially triggered by issues noted in the April 2010 Requête, the scope of the Review has broadened to take account of other structural, policy and institutional factors. We consider this broadening desirable, as any assessment of the effectiveness of a regulatory regime requires an examination not just of the regulator, but also of the broader policy and institutional structure of government within which regulation operates.
The CAA has asked us to consider the CC’s draft paper on the Assessment of Competition at Stansted Airport, which differs from the CAA’s own initial thinking to an extent that appears to lie well beyond a normal level of disagreement that might occur when two, independent authorities address a complex factual situation.
2. In what follows we seek to identify and understand the sources of these major differences, with a view to facilitating development of the most appropriate approach to regulation in the specific factual context of Stansted airport.
We have been asked by the Civil Aviation Authority to comment on the Competition Commission (CC)`s paper on Assessment of Competition at Stansted Airport (ACP) and on a paper by Dr David Starkie and Professor George Yarrow in response to the CC`s paper. Our comments are on the general approach taken by the CC and by Starkie and Yarrow.
The Traffic Management Act 2004 (TMA) provided for the introduction of a number of measures intended to address problems associated with urban and inter-urban congestion on the road network. This included providing the potential for permit schemes to be introduced by highway authorities such that street works (for example, utility repair work that involves occupation of some part of the highway) could not be undertaken without a permit, and a fee could be levied for the provision of such a permit. Secondary legislation was required in order to allow for the introduction of permit schemes, and more detailed enabling provisions were subsequently introduced under the Traffic Management Permit Scheme (England) Regulations 2007 (hereafter referred to as „the permit scheme regulations‟).
This report provides a review of the Regulatory Impact Assessment that was prepared by the Department for Transport (DfT) in the development of the permit scheme regulations. Some comments are also provided on the relevance that the issues raised in this review have for ongoing and future policy developments with respect to permit schemes
The introduction of next-generation access networks (NGANs) in communications changes the market and technological context in which public policy operates. It does so in a way that, in terminology used in the economic analysis of innovation, can be said to be ‘drastic’ in nature. This poses a number of new challenges for the development of regulatory policy, some of which are identified and explored in this paper.
When new problems arise, one of the first analytical tasks for regulators is to discover perspectives that might be of assistance in thinking through the issues that emerge. These alternative ‘frames’, which will also be explored below, are not solutions to the policy problems, but rather are ways of approaching the issues to assist the development of policy positions.
