The Cabinet Office Website, states:

"In August 1998, the Prime Minister announced that no proposal for regulation which has an impact on businesses, charities or voluntary bodies, should be considered by Ministers without a Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) being carried out. Where regulations or alternative measures are introduced, this should be done in a light touch way, with decisions informed with a full regulatory impact assessment, which includes details of not only the obvious costs and benefits of the proposal but also the wider economic, social and environmental impacts. New regulations should only be introduced when other alternatives have first been considered and rejected, and where the benefits justify the costs."

Guidance for Civil Servants underitaking Impact Assessments, has been prodcued by the Cabinet Officer. To see this, click here

One of the functions oof the 'scrutiny team of the RIU is to enmonitor this process. To read about this, click here.