Regulatory Review Group Minutes: August 2025

Attendees and apologies

• Professor Russel Griggs OBE, Regulatory Review Group (RRG) Chair
• Craig Brown, Society of Chief Officers of Environmental Health in Scotland
• Ewan MacDonald-Russell, Scottish Retail Consortium
• Susan Love, Association of Chartered Certified Accountants
• Douglas White, Consumer Scotland
• David MacKenzie, Trading Standards
• Suzi Daley, UKAS
• Robbie McGregor, British Standards Institute (BSI)
• Brendan McGinty, Competition and Markets Authority (CMA)
• Frances Pacitti, Scottish Government

Apologies

• Fiona Richardson, Convention of Scottish Local Authorities
• Wendy McCutcheon, Scottish Government

Items and actions

Welcome, Introductions and Approval of Minutes

Professor Russel Griggs OBE welcomed and thanked attendees for participating in this virtual Regulatory Review Group (RRG) meeting. Minutes from the previous meeting (26 June 2025) were agreed.

Updates from Professor Griggs

British Association of Removers meeting

Russel updated members on a meeting he had with the British Association of Removers (BAR). BAR requested a meeting as they seek to convince the UK and devolved governments of the need for a recognised minimum standard of service in their sector, and for government to introduce this standard. Members discussed the proposal and the unlikely willingness of government to intervene in this case. Members then had a more broad discussion about when government should intervene in business sectors to regulate, taking account of consumer harm and when it would be in the best interests of a particular market or sector. The impact in terms of increased cost to consumers was also crucial in this discussion. Members also discussed the impact of regulation in encouraging innovation in a market, and of the need to avoid vested interests determining intervention. The ability to enforce regulation was also discussed as being a potential issue. 
In summary, members agreed that the principal of when and how the RRG intervenes in discussions around regulation of sectors was an issue which should determine future discussions with the Group. It was agreed that there was a role for the RRG in noticing trends which could lead to discussions and recommendations of legislation.

Pilot

Members discussed progress with the pilot and they were updated that discussions were ongoing within the Scottish Government with food and drink officials, and also Scottish Food and Drink. Members were advised that a further update would follow in due course.

Sequencing of legislation affecting housing

Russel updated members that the RRG had been tasked by the Cabinet Secretary for Housing with providing advice on the sequencing of current and proposed legislation affecting housing policy.

Social Housing

Russel updated members on conversations he had had with stakeholders regarding an existing challenge in the sector and the potential impact of impending legislation on the sector and also on economic growth. Russel advised members that he was having further, separate discussions with Scottish Government officials about this issue and would feed back to the Group.

Circular Economy Strategy update

Scottish Government officials led a presentation on the current status and goals of the Circular Economy Strategy. Members were advised that a consultation on proposals would run from October, with results in January or February. Publication would likely be in March 2026, however officials set out that, timings may be challenging on this. Following the presentation members then discussed how to turn the proposals into reality and set out the challenges with regard to packaging and product passports. It was recognised that the Scottish Government had limited control of some aspects, however members noted that DEFRA was considering alignment opportunities, particularly with EU directives. Behaviour change was noted as key to the success of the Circular Economy Act, with it being recognised that local authorities were undertaking work on standardisation and behaviours and a narrative to drive consumer understanding of overall impact. 
Robbie McGregor advised that BSI had recently published a report which had reviewed 8,000 questions on circular economy, and he also advised of a report he had shared with an MSP recently on what BSI could do in this area. It was agreed for both of these reports to be shared with members. Scottish Government officials agreed to keep RRG members updated on progress.

Work programme, annual report & RRG set questions

The work programme was shared with members, who were advised that they would be sent it directly post-meeting. An update was provided in the meeting to note that this had followed the Cabinet Sub-Committee on Investment and Economic Growth writing to the RRG, and members were advised of the current status of the proposals listed. Members were asked to consider if anything not listed should be considered by the RRG. 
Members outlined the need to leave space for the RRG to have a general discussion on the issue of when government should intervene and outlined that the next meeting should consider issues such as resourcing. It was discussed that the RRG would need to consider prioritising where it would have most impact and that the RRG would need to be selective due to capacity limitations. 
Members were also advised of draft questions for members to consider using when meeting policy officials, with a suggestion of sharing these with officials in advance of meetings. It was agreed that the draft questions and draft RRG annual report would be issued to members seeking feedback.

Next Steps/AOB

The next meeting of the group will be held in-person in Atlantic Quay, Glasgow on 23 September 2025.