Annex 4.1 Regulatory Impact Statement: Overview of required information
This template sets out the elements that must be considered and addressed as part of Regulatory Impact Analysis, and summarised in the Regulatory Impact Statement. In some cases not all items will be relevant and in others more detailed analysis will be required.
Flexibility is permitted in the presentation of this information - for instance, some information may be usefully presented in tables or diagrams. There is no formal page limit; but the RIS should try to concisely summarise the analysis undertaken. Unless very short, RISs should include an executive summary (for example with a summary table of the options analysis). Paragraph and page numbers should be included.
Regulatory Impact Statement
Title of Proposal/Name of Issue
Agency Disclosure Statement
This Regulatory Impact Statement has been prepared by [name of agency].
It provides an analysis of options to [state in one sentence what problem the options in this paper seek to address].
[Paragraphs describing the nature and extent of the analysis undertaken, explicitly noting:
- key gaps
- assumptions
- dependencies
- any significant constraints, caveats or uncertainties concerning the analysis,
- any time constraints, including the nature and cause of the constraints, and
- any further work required before any policy decisions could be implemented.]
[Please note that the Agency Disclosure Statement should address the reliance that decision-makers may place on the analysis. It should not be an executive summary of the RIS.]
[Name and designation of person responsible for preparing the RIS]
[Signature of person] [Date]
Executive summary
- A short outline of the RIS and key conclusions - preferably in less than one page.
Status quo and problem definition
- Describe the key features of the current situation, including any existing legislation/regulations or other government interventions/programmes, and features of the market, as relevant.
- Explain any relevant decisions that have already been taken.
- Describe the costs and benefits of status quo, ie, expected outcomes in the absence of any further government action.
- Identify the root cause of the problem (not just the symptoms).
Objectives
- Explain the desired government outcomes/objectives against which the options are assessed, eg, the level of risk reduction to be achieved.
- State whether there is an authoritative or statutory basis for undertaking the analysis, eg, a legislative requirement to annually review the regulation.
- State whether the outcomes are subject to any constraints, eg, whether they must be achieved within a certain time period or budget.
Options and impact analysis
- Identify the full range of practical options (regulatory and non-regulatory) that may wholly or partly achieve the objectives. Within the regulatory options, this includes identifying the full (viable) range of regulatory responses.
- For each feasible option:
- identify the full range of impacts (including economic, fiscal, compliance, social, environmental and cultural) and provide an appropriate level of quantification
- describe the incidence of these impacts (ie, who bears the costs and the benefits) and assess the net benefit compared with the status quo.
Consultation
- Explain who has been consulted and what form the consultation took.
- Outline key feedback received, with particular emphasis on any significant concerns that were raised about the preferred option, how the proposal has been altered to address these concerns (and if not, why not).
- If there was no limited or no consultation undertaken, the reasons why.
Conclusions and recommendations
- Summarise and present the outcome of the options analysis.
- It is not mandatory for an agency to recommend or reject a particular option. But where an agency does so, it should explain and justify their recommendation in the RIS.
Implementation plan
- Summarise how the proposed option(s) will be given effect, including transitional arrangements.
- Describe how implementation risks will be being mitigated.
- Describe the steps that are being taken to minimise compliance costs.
- Describe how the proposal would interact with, or impact on, existing regulation, including whether there is scope to reduce or remove any existing regulations.
- Outline the enforcement strategy that will be implemented to ensure that the preferred option achieves its public policy objectives.
Monitoring, evaluation and review
- Outline plans for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of the preferred option, including performance indicators and how the necessary data will be collected.
- Explain how it will be reviewed and what the review process will involve (and if no plans for review, the reasons why).
