Business and regulatory impact assessment: toolkit

Implementation and Delivery Plan

At all stages of BRIA completion – as with policy development - you need to think about implementation and delivery.

• How will the legislation be put together and how will it achieve its objective?
• Consider who will implement and enforce it and how are they being involved in the creation/consultation process?

In this section you should outline implementation and delivery plans covering the main issues for each option. These are likely to refer back to earlier sections and might include:

• ownership – e.g. who is responsible for implementation and who will make decisions?
• the aims of implementation – focus on the policy objective and outcomes considered necessary, including success criteria;
• timetable for implementation – key decision points and milestones, specifying where flexibility may or may not exist;
• identification of stakeholders – who will be involved in implementation and who may be more widely affected?
• communication strategy – including allowing for early warning to those who will be affected, especially small businesses and other organisations;
• consider risk management for the delivery and implementation of each option.
• consider how implementation will fit within existing initiatives, including those by other government departments and inspection agencies, and aggregated burdens.

As part of developing the delivery plan you should also recognise the need for a formal post-implementation review within 10 years of regulations coming into force, and make arrangements for relevant data capture and for the review.

Post-implementation review

As part of finalising monitoring arrangements you should also recognise the need for a formal post-implementation review within 10 years of regulations coming into force. This review should establish whether implemented regulations are having the intended effect and whether they are implementing policy objectives efficiently. It is not intended to review the effects of the policy itself or to determine whether the intended policy is still desirable - although there may be merit in considering those too. You should use the final BRIA as the starting point for this work, given that it should establish a baseline and include the success criteria against which you will assess the effectiveness of the policy in delivering the objective.

All Scottish Government legislation that impacts upon businesses is subject to review against the final BRIA within 10 years, although directorates are free to review regulations at any earlier point if this coincides with a pre-programmed review.

Key issues for review should include whether:

• the policy objective has been met.
• impacts have been as expected, including the costs and benefits.
• views of stakeholders regarding implementation of the policy and whether there have been any unforeseen unintended consequences.
• compliance levels indicate that the enforcement regime is effective – perhaps it could now be lighter touch or more risk based.
• the basis of the review – it could be statutory (forming part of the legislation) or there could be a political commitment to review.
• criteria for modifying or replacing the policy if it does not achieve its objectives; or whether Government intervention is still required or not.
• the five principles of better regulation are evident in delivery and outcomes.