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Is the football regulator next? Minister refuses to confirm if plans still going ahead amid drive to slash red tape
17 March 2025, 09:50
Watch Again: Nick Ferrari is joined by Economic Secretary to the Treasury Emma Reynolds | 17/03/25
A minister has refused to confirm if an independent football regulator will still be set up, amid a drive to cut red tape and cut the cost of regulation.
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Emma Reynolds, a junior Treasury minister, told LBC's Nick Ferrari at Breakfast three times that she could not comment on the status of the independent football regulator.
Regulators were summoned to Downing Street on Monday for a meeting with Ms Reynolds' boss, Chancellor Rachel Reeves, as the government continues its war on red tape after announcing plans to abolish NHS England last week.
Ms Reeves is expected to use the meeting to announce more detail on how the government will cut the cost of regulation by a quarter and set out plans to slim down or abolish regulators themselves.
The bill to launch the independent football regulator is making its way through Parliament and reached its report stage in the Lords earlier this month.
Read more: Starmer demands 'proposals for growth' from regulators as PM seeks to boost UK economy
Asked by Nick how the football regulator, long mooted as a way of reducing the financial mismanagement of clubs, fit into this new approach, Ms Reynolds said: "I won't go into the detail of that, if you don't mind, because we are not talking about the football regulator this morning."
Pressed by Nick on what he said was a "justified question", given that the government is set on reducing bureaucracy, Ms Reynolds said: "I can't answer that question, Nick. I'm not here to talk about that. I'm really sorry."
Nick said: "For now, I'm going to put it to you that the football regulator is going to be stood down. It is not proceeding, am I right?"
Ms Reynolds would only reply: "I cannot comment on that. I'm not here to talk about the football regulator. I'm really sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not here to talk about that.
"We've got a number of regulators coming in this morning to see the Chancellor and the Chancellor has asked them to respond by the summer with concrete plans to cut down on the regulatory burden on business in order to make the UK the best place in the world to do business."
The Reeves meeting follows the announcement last week that NHS England - dubbed the world's largest quango - would be scrapped as part of efforts to cut costs and boost economic growth.
Ms Reeves said: "Today we are taking further action to free businesses from the shackles of regulation.
"By cutting red tape and creating a more effective system, we will boost investment, create jobs and put more money into working people's pockets."
As well as abolishing NHS England, the Government has already announced plans to fold the Payments Systems Regulator into the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), and Ms Reeves is expected to commit scrapping more regulators over the course of the Parliament.
On Monday, she will announce the abolition of a third quango - the Regulator for Community Interest Companies, which will be folded into Companies House - and ministers will be instructed to report back to the Chancellor by the summer with further suggestions for quangos that could be culled.
Eight regulators are expected to attend the meeting, including the FCA, the Environment Agency, Natural England and the Health and Safety Executive.
Sports Minister praises creation of new football regulator
The Chancellor is also expected to use Monday's meeting to unveil 60 measures Britain's regulators have agreed to take in order to boost economic growth.
These include fast-tracking new medicines, reviewing the £100 limit on contactless payments, simplifying mortgage rules and holding two major drone-flying trials to pave the way for drone delivery services.
The measures follow a demand from the Prime Minister at the end of last year that regulators come up with "concrete proposals" to boost growth as the Government attempts to turn around Britain's struggling economy.
Although the UK avoided a recession in the second half of 2024, the economy continues to falter and figures released last week showed a 0.1% fall in GDP in January.
