In July 2021, the Government published for consultation a Plan for Digital Regulation, entitled “Digital Regulation: Driving growth and unlocking innovation”. The document set out the Government’s overall vision for governing digital technologies and provided new principles to guide how the Government designs and implements the regulation of digital technologies as well as some practical proposals for how it will ensure a more coherent and streamlined regulatory landscape. The Government said that innovation was at the heart of the plan. It also committed to improving the evidence base for digital regulation and strengthening its understanding of the impact of government intervention.

The Government has now published a policy paper on Developing an Outcomes Monitoring Framework for the Plan for Digital Regulation, which it says demonstrates progress against this commitment. The framework sets out the objectives and outcomes of regulating digital technologies, an initial set of indicators, and the Government’s planned next steps to strengthen the evidence base. It represents an initial step to develop a holistic approach to monitoring progress against the Government’s overall priorities and objectives, understanding the impact of its interventions and identifying any gaps in its approach.

The Government invites stakeholder views on how it can supplement this initial framework. The consultation is open until 5 September 2022. To access the policy paper and for details on how to respond to the consultation, click here.