Regulatory Partnership for Growth Fund

Statement

Today I am announcing a new £2.3million Regulatory Partnership for Growth Fund (RPGF), which will help to unlock export opportunities worth nearly £5 billion for UK companies over five years.

The RPGF will help UK regulators work with international partners to remove trade barriers and shape markets in various growing sectors. The Department for Business and Trade will offer Grant Funding Agreements to UK regulators and standard setting bodies in order to undertake targeted, specific interventions to unlock regulatory market access barriers.

The Fund builds on the Prime Minister's call at the International Investment Summit last week for UK regulators to support the Government's growth mission, keep pace with emerging industries and upgrade the regulatory regime to make it fit for the modern age.

This will see UK businesses, including in growth-driving sectors, benefit from almost £5 billion of new export opportunities over five years, with trade barriers worth £300 million being targeted within the first 12 months – equivalent to an average of £135 in exports per pound invested.

For example, the fund will generate new opportunities for the UK offshore wind supply chain to export their products and services globally; enable the UK’s pharmaceutical industry to more easily sell medicines in markets around the world; and improve the process for accreditation of UK education providers to sell their services abroad.

List of organisations to receive funding

Architects Registration Board (ARB)

Operators of UK National Information Centre for global qualifications and skills (Ecctis)

The Food Standards Agency (FSA)

The Law Society of England and Wales

The National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE)

Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult (OREC)

Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA)