Hidden legislation

I wrote last week about the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill exclusively from an employment law perspective.?I am an employment solicitor and that is my field of work. I do not stray into party politics but, as a lawyer I am heavily subscribed to the Rule of Law and good governance The failure to consult the OBR before the curiously named “fiscal event” and the run on the pound set me thinking about what I had read but nearly missed in the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill.

Apart from the revocation of EU law at the end of 2023, the existing requirement for business impact statements introduced by the Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Act 2015 will be abolished.?In the event of this bill passing, then legislation in future will not need to be tested for the impact on business.?

So to quote from the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy press release on 22nd September “As part of these reforms, the Bill repeals the Business Impact Target (BIT). The replacement of the BIT, when combined with the other wider reforms, will ensure that regulation is fit for the UK economy, business and households, as well as the future”.

We are mushrooms to be best kept in the dark. The secrecy and lack of OBR involvement in the “Fiscal Event” merely heralded a change of strategy for the future.