Issued by: Cabinet Office

The government will strip away needless 'box-ticking' consultations as part of a drive to accelerate decision-making and deliver real change at pace.

• Direction sent to all Secretaries of State to end “comfort blanket” of unnecessary consultations and get on with the job.

• First Secretary tells colleagues “Governments are elected to lead” with promise of a new vision for meaningful public participation in the Autumn

• Decisions on major infrastructure projects that deliver jobs, lower bills and regenerate communities to be made faster

The government will strip away needless ‘box-ticking’ consultations as part of a drive to accelerate decision-making and deliver real change at pace.

On Monday, the First Secretary of State, Chancellor and Attorney General wrote to departments to tell Ministers to help them to be “bold and ambitious”, the government will “pare back counterproductive administrative burdens” and implement further robust changes to support delivery.

For too long, the system has outsourced accountability to external stakeholders through consultations, arm’s-length bodies, or regulators, costing the public years of progress. A bespoke AI tool identified around 7,000 consultation duties in the statute book.

For example, despite overwhelmingly positive responses, vital public health measures such as the introduction of folic acid to flour were delayed for seven years as the government became trapped in duplicate consultations. Similarly, between 2019 and 2023, the Government asked the public three times for views on introducing legislation to microchip cats, including gathering views on the legal definition of a cat.

These examples are symptomatic of a culture that has prioritised process over outcomes. The government is committed to doing things differently: making clear decisions, standing by them, and working with Parliament and local leaders to execute them.

First Secretary of State, Louise Haigh said:

"To deliver change at the pace and scale the public expects, my department is stripping out needless bureaucracy.

"If we can’t microchip cats without getting tied up in red tape, it should come as no surprise the public is losing faith that governments can get things done.

"Governments are elected to lead – not hide behind process. We are taking steps today to speed up decision-making and deliver the change our country needs."

Already, an expert central team has supported departments to engage better, intercepting new consultation duties before they get added to Bills, ensuring departments can deliver change without adding further burden. The team will continue its work, supporting departments to consult with the public in a way that works.

Clearing this backlog paves the way for better democratic engagement as endless written surveys rarely capture the true views of communities or effectively shape policy.

In the Autumn, the government will set out its vision for public participation and issue new guidance providing practical steps for modern, meaningful engagement.

The changes announced on Monday include:

• Empowering Parliament to be able to designate and approve the country’s most important infrastructure projects giving them significant enhanced protection from legal challenge.

• The Government also plans to introduce a fixed Challenge Window, which will ensure points of legal challenge are identified and addressed earlier, helping prevent delays after consent has already been granted.

• Departments will be expected to reduce unnecessary consultations and ensure they are only undertaken where there is a clear reason to do so.

• The Attorney General will also publish updated guidance making clear that legal risk should inform ministers’ decisions, not dictate them.

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