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Right-touch regulation 2025
07 Oct 2025
We have now updated Right-touch regulation. First published in 2010, revised in 2015 and now 10 years later we believed the time was right to look at it again. The core principles remain the same, but we have expanded on areas and provided more clarity.
“A much-needed contribution. An easy and compelling read and relevant to regulators of all kinds.”
Introduction
2025 version
We have published an updated version of Right-touch regulation. Right-touch regulation is the approach we adopt in our work and encourage others to adopt.
The principles-based framework helps with deciding how best to protect the public by looking at the level of risk of harm and choosing the most effective and proportionate response, whether through regulation or other actions.
In this latest version of Right-touch regulation, we expand on its central ideas to support regulators in responding to the challenges and opportunities faced today, which are quite different to those faced when the last edition was published in 2015. We highlight that agility and collaboration are more important than ever in addressing these issues.
At a time when regulation is under pressure to show its value, support innovation and help drive economic growth, we believe Right-touch regulation remains a powerful tool. The central principles, alongside the areas of new emphasis outlined in this edition, encourage efficient identification of what needs to be regulated and how. Applying these principles helps lead to approaches which drive improvement and enable rapid responses in evolving and changing situations.
Right-touch principles
The concept of Right-touch regulation emerges from the application of the principles of good regulation identified by the Better Regulation Executive in 2002 , to which the Professional Standards Authority has added agility as a sixth principle.
With this addition, the principles state that regulation should aim to be:
- Proportionate: regulators should only intervene when necessary. Remedies should be appropriate to the risk posed, and costs identified and minimised
- Consistent: rules and standards must be joined up and implemented fairly
- Targeted: regulation should be focused on the problem, and minimise side effects
- Transparent: regulators should be open, and keep regulations simple and user friendly
- Accountable: regulators must be able to justify decisions, and be subject to public scrutiny
- Agile: regulation must look forward and be able to adapt to anticipate change. These principles provide the foundation for thinking on regulatory policy in all sectors of society.