|
|
One year on after Jeremy Hunt announced the reform package, the Treasury Select Committee, led by Tory MP Harriet Baldwin, “question[ed] the validity” of some of the reforms set out by Hunt and said they had had little impact on the economy so far.
“The Edinburgh Reforms were given considerable fanfare last December but, 12 months on, the lack of progress or economic impact has left them feeling like a damp squib,” Baldwin said in a statement today.
Ministers sent a progress update on the implementation of the changes to the committee and said 21 of the 31 reforms laid out last year been completed.
The group said it is also “sceptical as to the value of some changes” that it “deemed to have no economic impact”.
“We welcome many of the changes as logical and sensible measures,” Baldwin added. “We do, though, question the validity of claims that welcoming consultations, establishing reviews or publishing documents should be considered reforms.”
Among Hunt’s package of reforms were plans to reform the so-called ring-fencing regime for banks that separates their consumer and investment banking divisions, and change the remit of regulators to include growth and international competitiveness.