Welsh academic is appointed to regulatory body
LEADING Welsh enterprise academic Professor Brian Morgan has been appointed to the independent Regulatory Policy Committee (RPC), which assesses on behalf of the UK Government the impact of new regulatory and deregulatory proposals on business.
Sponsored by the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, it also ensures the Government’s estimates of costs and benefits to business as a result of regulation are accurate.
It also settles disputes between non-economic regulators and businesses with reference to the new guidance on accountability for regulator impact.
Aberdare-born Prof Morgan, joins four other new appointments to the RPC, including Laura Cox, partner at PriceWaterhouseCoopers; Stephen Gibson, professional economist and regulator; Andrew Williams-Fry, regulatory economist and government affairs professional; and Sheila Drew-Smith OBE, member of the Committee on Standards in Public Life and chair of the National Approved Letting Scheme.
The appoints were confirmed by Business Minister Lord Henley.
Prof Morgan is director of the Creative Leadership and Enterprise Centre at Cardiff Metropolitan University. He is a member of the Cardiff Capital Region Employment and Skills Board and the Valleys Task Force.
In 2012. Professor Morgan chaired the Business Rates Wales Review. It was updated and expanded in 2014 in anticipation of business rates being devolved to Wales. He was also chief economist at the now-defunct Welsh Development Agency.
Prof Morgan said: “Over the years, I have been impressed by the independent work of the RPC and its forerunner, the Better Regulation Task Force – especially its role in assessing the costs of bureaucratic processes on small firms. As an economist and policy adviser, I have a keen interest in measuring the impact that directives and regulatory changes can have on businesses and social enterprises.
“I am therefore delighted to be offered the chance to serve on the RPC and to help generate the sort of evidence-based policies that will be needed in the run-up to Brexit.
“The next three years look like being an exciting time for analysing factors such as regulatory alignment. These issues would, under normal circumstances, be regarded as fairly mundane, but as we leave the EU they will become hugely important policy topics.
“I look forward to joining the Committee and contributing to the policy debate on these issues.”
Welcoming his appointment, Secretary of State for Wales Alun Cairns said: “The RPC is a body which plays such an important role in providing a robust and impartial check on the purpose and effects of proposed government regulatory activity.
“Brian brings with him decades of leadership and experience in economics and enterprise and I am delighted to see him appointed to this important position.
“I have no doubt that he will work effectively with his co-members in their efforts to achieve better regulatory outcomes that promote growth and jobs, and protect the interests of society.”