Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment
Toolkit
This section provides information on how to complete a Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment, covering each section of the template. Where appropriate, hyperlinks are provided to navigate to detailed and specific step-by-step information.
Introduction
From 1 April 2010, the Scottish Government will enhance regulatory impact assessment by introducing a new Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA).
The BRIA process encourages policy makers to use available evidence to find proposals that best achieve the policy objectives while minimising costs and burdens. The BRIA (like the RIA from which it has evolved) is:
- a tool used by Government to assess and present the likely costs and benefits (monetised as far as possible) and the associated risks of a proposal that might have an impact on the public, private or third sector.
- a continuous process to help Government understand the issues associated with a proposal and avoid unintended consequences, fully think through the reasons for intervention, to weigh up various options for achieving an objective and to understand the consequences of a proposed intervention.
Once published, the BRIA allows those with an interest in the policy to contribute as appropriate with an understanding of:
- why the Government is proposing to intervene;
- options the Government is considering, and which one is preferred;
- how and to what extent new policies may impact on them, on business and on Scotland's competitiveness;
- the estimated costs and benefits of proposed measures.
The BRIA is not mandatory but is expected to be part of the process of introducing any Bill or Statutory Instrument to the Scottish Parliament. Where a BRIA is not completed, this must be agreed with Ministers. This is evolutionary change. BRIAs should also be completed for other regulations or policy changes which may have an impact on business. The BRIA retains many elements of the earlier regulatory impact assessment (RIA). The main difference is the need to engage with 6-12 companies in order to better assess the costs and/or benefits to business (and thereby support economic recovery and increased and sustainable economic growth). The change is not retrospective. The BRIA model should be adopted when existing RIAs are updated or reviewed as part of the normal policy cycle.
As a continuous process BRIAs should be reviewed and updated at various points in the evolution of a policy. BRIAs completed at the development and options stages need not be published. All others should be approved by Ministers and published. As such there is merit in starting the BRIA process as early as possible in the policy cycle, and refreshing the assessment as required. Economists and other analytical colleagues should be consulted from the earliest stages of policy development in order to ensure that impact assessment is robust.
Title of Proposal
Insert full title of proposal including any document reference (e.g. that of any related EC directive).
Purpose and intended effect
Further guidance on this section is available here.
Consultation
List the Government agencies and directorates/departments that you have consulted and explain how their input supported the formulation of the policy proposals.
Partial - Give details of any informal consultation carried out prior to publication of the formal consultation.
Final - record the public consultation results, any related and subsequent developments to the proposal and any impact on the decision being taken from these results.
The distinctive benefits of the BRIA process derive from the need to engage with 6-12 companies which are expected to be affected by the proposal in order to better assess the costs and/or benefits to business (and thereby support economic recovery and increased and sustainable economic growth). While there is no requirement to list the specific companies, this section should provide relevant details of the businesses - which should be appropriately diverse in terms of both size and location - involved in the process. The substance of that consultation should be captured in the "Scottish Firms Impact Test" section of the BRIA.
The independent Regulatory Review Group (RRG) recommended this change to Ministers and members have agreed to provide advice and support where there is uncertainty about whether there will be an impact on business or difficulty accessing an appropriate range of business contacts. Please contact the Better Regulation and Industry Engagement team if you need this support.
Options
Further guidance on this section is available here.
Scottish Firms Impact Test
Further guidance on this section is available here.
Legal Aid Impact Test
BRIAs relating to all proposed regulations in Scotland that could give rise to increased use of legal processes or create new rights or responsibilities should give particular attention to possible impacts on the legal aid fund.
If you are working on government policy development within the Scottish Government you must consider what implications it may have on fulfilling individuals' right to access to justice through availability of legal aid and possible expenditure from the legal aid fund. Such impacts are likely if your policy will create a new procedure or right of appeal to a court or tribunal, any change in such a procedure or right of appeal, or any change of policy or practice which may lead people to consult a solicitor. For further information please contact the Legal Aid Team at legalaidtrawl@scotland.gsi.gov.uk
Enforcement and Monitoring
Further guidance on this section is available here.
The next two sections are optional prior to consultation, but must be completed thereafter and included in the final BRIA.
Implementation and delivery plan
Further guidance on this section is available here.
Summary and recommendation
Which option is being recommended and why? Refer to analysis of the costs and benefits in reaching the decision. Summarise in a table the information gathered for each option.
Summary costs and benefits table
Option | Total benefit per annum: - economic, environmental, social | Total cost per annum: - economic, environmental, social - policy and administrative |
1 | | |
2 | | |
3 | | |
4 | | |
Declaration and publication
The Cabinet Secretary or Minister responsible for the policy (or the Chief Executive of non departmental public bodies and other agencies if appropriate) is required to sign off all BRIAs prior to publication, using appropriate text as follows:
- Sign-off: for Consultation Stage impact assessments:
" I have read the impact assessment and I am satisfied that, given the available evidence, it represents a reasonable view of the likely costs, benefits and impact of the leading options. I am satisfied that business impact has been assessed with the support of businesses in Scotland ".
- Sign-off: for Final proposal/Implementation Stages impact assessments:
" I have read the impact assessment and I am satisfied that (a) it represents a fair and reasonable view of the expected costs, benefits and impact of the policy, and (b) that the benefits justify the costs I am satisfied that business impact has been assessed with the support of businesses in Scotland ".
- Sign-off: for Review Stage impact assessments:
" I have read the impact assessment and I am satisfied that (a) it represents an accurate assessment of the actual costs, benefits and impact of the policy, and (b) that the benefits do (or do not) justify the costs. I am satisfied that business impact has been assessed with the support of businesses in Scotland ".
Five copies of any published BRIA should be placed in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre when consultation is initiated or the regulation/legislation is presented to Parliament. Where appropriate, one copy should be sent to each one of the following: the lead Committee, Subordinate Legislation Committee, and the Parliament Legal Advisers.
Any published BRIA should also be copied to the Better Regulation and Industry Engagement team who will ensure that it is also published on the Scottish Government's Better Regulation web pages.
A version of the entire Toolkit is available in Word and PDF format here.