Ethical Business Regulation wins approval of UK and Scottish Governments

​The concept of 'Ethical Business Regulation' (EBR) identified by Professor Chris Hodges has been used as the basis for the Government's Regulatory Futures Review published in January 2017.

The Review recommends that all UK regulators should move towards models of 'regulatory self-assurance' and 'earned recognition', which would permit savings of perhaps £600 million in the government's funding of regulators. Businesses should be invited to produce evidence of compliance and systems from a wide range of stakeholders, including not only regulators but also , trade bodies, businesses networks, assurance bodies, with the ‘influence of users and consumers, of buyers and commissioners, and other professionals involved in the sector’. The Review notes that such a system has to be based on evidence of trust, that people will all 'do the right thing', based on ethical business practices, in return for which they would be regulated with a 'very light touch' in a no blame relationship. That is the EBR model proposed by Hodges. It was adopted by the Scottish Government as part of their 'fair Scotland' policy in the December 2016 competition and consumer policy . Hodges spoke on Ethical Business Regulation  at the invitation of the Scottish Government in meetings with various sectoral regulators and the Nuisance Calls Commission in January 2017. He is speaking on EBR in February 2017 in Toronto at the invitation of an Ontario Minister, and with the Singapore Civil Service College.