Volume 15: Government and Public Administration
7. Reducing regulation
Alternative views

7.10 The Government took the view that the benefits of deregulation were not restricted to business. Apart from encouraging the setting up of small firms and hence creating jobs, consumers would benefit because 'opening up regulated markets to competition and eliminating restrictive practices, means more choice, more products and competitive prices'. ¹

7.11 Organisations representing consumers did not wholly agree. They argued that:

1. the Government was placing too much emphasis on the costs to businesses rather than on the benefits of 'essential consumer protection and safety requirements' ² and fair competitive and trading practices; ³ and
2. if the Deregulation Unit (formerly the EDU) wanted an effective input from consumer interests, these should be involved at the beginning of any discussions not half-way through. ⁴

The Consumers' Association told the Inquiry that in their view:

...while they [the Deregulation Unit] were very concerned about doing cost-benefit analysis to see what the detriment to industry would be of deregulation, they had no such balancing view of the cost-benefit analysis to the consumer; and that was a flaw . . . We saw the Deregulation Unit as very much an industry-influenced body that did not take . . . the protection of the consumer into account. ⁵