Rachel Reeves summons regulator chiefs to Downing Street to push growth agenda
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Chancellor wants ‘check-in’ to review pro-growth proposals from regulators, including road and rail, water, energy, aviation and markets. Rachel Reeves is expected to pile pressure on UK regulators to do more to support growth when she summons bosses to No 11 on Thursday.
The chief executives of watchdogs including the Competition and Markets Authority, communications regulator Ofcom, water regulator Ofwat, and the energy regulator Ofgem, are due to meet the chancellor and business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, in Downing Street, as they face accusations that their work has been a barrier to investment.
The Office of Rail and Road, the Environment Agency and the Civil Aviation Authority are also expected to appear at the midday meeting. The discussion comes weeks after Reeves, Reynolds and the prime minister, Keir Starmer, wrote to 17 regulators in the UK on Christmas Eve, ordering them to put forward pro-growth proposals.
Thursday’s meeting is the first in a series of check-ins with those regulators, as the government reviews their plans and progress. Ministers and officials across government will be engaging with other regulators, including the Financial Conduct Authority and the Bank of England’s Prudential Regulation Authority, about their proposals in the coming weeks.
Regulators were put on notice back in October, when Starmer used a speech at the government’s investment summit to promise that he would “rip out the bureaucracy that blocks investment” and ensure every regulator in the UK “takes growth as seriously as this room does”.
