Part 5: Providing Quality Assurance (QA)
This section contains advice on providing independent quality assurance (QA) of Regulatory Impact Statements (RISs). It is aimed at people who are asked to provide feedback on the quality of a RIS, and those providing the independent QA. This guidance should be read in conjunction with the rest of the Handbook.
1 The purpose of quality assurance
The purpose of independent QA of RISs is to provide assurance to Cabinet that it is making decisions on the basis of the best possible advice. It does this by requiring that an appropriate person (someone who is not responsible for producing the RIS) has considered whether the analysis and information summarised in the RIS is of a sufficient standard to properly inform the decisions being taken. The reviewer's assessment is summarised in a formal statement that is included in the Cabinet paper accompanying the RIS.
Cabinet requires that independent quality assurance (QA) is undertaken on all Regulatory Impact Statements (RISs).[11] If any of the options considered in the RIS are likely to have a significant impact or risk (see Part 1), then this formal QA will be undertaken by the Regulatory Impact Analysis Team (RIAT) in Treasury. For all other RISs, the QA will be provided by the authoring agency.
1.1 The QA criteria
The QA criteria (see Annex 5.2) should be used as a basis for the formal QA assessment. The first three criteria are the most important in terms of the substance of the analysis, and more weight should be placed on these aspects:
- Complete - Ensure that all the required information (see Annex 5.1) is provided in the RIS.
- Convincing - This criterion relates to the analytical framework that has been employed, and the level and type of analysis that has been undertaken. The Undertaking RIA section (Part 2) of the Handbook should be used as a guide to assessment against this dimension of quality.
- Consulted - The Effective Consultation section (see Part 3) of the Handbook sets out the requirements for consultation. It is important that the RIS does not just state what consultation has been undertaken, but also explains the nature of any issues raised or views expressed by stakeholders, and how these have been taken into account in the development of the final proposal.
- Clear and Concise - The final criterion relates to the presentation of material in the RIS. Information should be succinct and in plain English, to enable decision-makers to easily understand the issues and trade-offs associated with the choices they are making. The RIS should also be sufficiently clear so the general public can understand the basis on which government decisions have been taken. It may be more helpful to present some information in tabular or diagrammatic form, and flexibility of presentation is permitted.
More guidance on applying the QA criteria can be found below.
Notes
- [11]Refer CAB Min (09) 27/11, CAB Min (09) 38/7A.
