Guidance

Sending an options assessment to the Regulatory Policy Committee for scrutiny

Updated 5 September 2025

Use this process where:

• the regulatory provision is not excluded or exempted by Annex 1 of the Better Regulation Framework guidance
• the equivalent annual net cost to business of the measure is under £100 million

You must produce a final impact assessment for parliament unless the impact of your regulatory provision is less than ±£10 million.

For de minimis measures (measures with impacts below ±£10 million equivalent annual net direct cost to business (EANDCB)), departments should provide a proportionate assessment or estimate of the impacts to self-certify that the measure is below the de minimis threshold.

Step 1: Advice from your Better Regulation Unit

Contact your Better Regulation Unit (BRU) to discuss your measure and determine if it:

• is a regulatory provision in the scope of the Better Regulation Framework
• falls into a category for exclusion or exemption
• requires scrutiny from the Regulatory Policy Committee (RPC)

Step 2: Complete an options assessment

Conduct a regulatory options assessment (OA). This is an earlier form of regulatory impact assessment (IA) generally produced and subject to independent scrutiny before collective agreement of a preferred regulatory provision. This includes collective agreement of consultations with a preferred regulatory option. The analysis will be less developed than for a final-stage regulatory impact assessment.

Share this OA with your BRU.

Step 3: Submit the evidence and analysis

The relevant departmental BRU generally submits the OA to the RPC on behalf of departmental policy teams. If a policy team plans to submit its OA directly, it should confirm that its BRU is content and its BRU should:

• make sure it has provided sufficient oversight of the OA to assure its quality
• make sure it is copied on correspondence with the RPC to support its situational awareness and enable adequate record keeping
• make sure the OA is sent to the correct mailbox: opinions@rpc.gov.uk

Step 4: Regulatory Policy Committee scrutiny

The RPC acknowledges receipt and issues an RPC reference number.

Step 5: Regulatory Policy Committee response

The RPC issues a response. This may be:

• a green-rated opinion indicating the evidence and analysis is fit for purpose
• an initial review notice (IRN) indicating areas of concern which, if not addressed, will lead to an opinion that the evidence and analysis are not fit for purpose

Step 6: Responding to an initial review notice

The policy team addresses the concerns raised in the IRN and resubmits the options assessment.

Step 7: Regulatory Policy Committee considers the resubmission

The RPC rates the quality of the evidence and analysis within the options assessment and other submission and provides a colour-coded response:

• red – the evidence and analysis are not fit for purpose and do not support the case for regulation

• green – the rationale, identification of options (including small and medium business assessment or SAMBA) and selection of a preferred way forward are all fit for purpose

A green-rated options assessment may have minor inadequacies which should be fixed before publishing the final impact assessment.

Flowchart

Diagram showing the process involved in sending an options assessment to the Regulatory Policy Committee as set out in steps 1 to 7.

Accessible flowchart

RPC reviews the options assessment and issues a response:

• green-rated if the submission is fit for purpose - proceed with requirements of the Better Regulation Framework
• initial review notice if RPC has concerns about the submission - policy team reviews concerns and resubmits

RPC will review the resubmission and issues a response:

• red-rated (not fit for purpose) - return to step 1
• green-rated (fit for purpose) - proceed with requirements of the Better Regulation Framework
• green-rated with minor inadequacies - proceed with requirements of the Better Regulation Framework