IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/reggov/v7y2013i1p61-79.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Transcending the deregulation debate? Regulation, risk, and the enforcement of health and safety law in the UK

Author

Listed:
  • Steve Tombs
  • David Whyte

Abstract

This paper considers the context for the development of the concept of responsive regulation, namely the transcending of the deregulation debate. It argues that claims regarding responsive regulation when allied to risk‐based rationales for enforcement can, in fact, allow a “deregulatory” momentum to develop. This argument is grounded with reference to a case study of the regulation of workplace health and safety in the UK, with a particular focus upon the period 2000–2010. The paper casts doubt on the relevance and robustness of the concept of responsive regulation. In a context that might have been fertile ground for developing genuinely responsive regulatory policy, empirically we find the development of policies that are better described as “regulatory degradation.” Thus we argue in this paper that, whatever the intentions of its proponents, there is a logical affinity between responsive regulation, and effective de‐regulation, and that it is this affinity that has provided a convenient political rationale for the emergence of a neo‐liberal regulatory settlement in the UK.

Suggested Citation

  • Steve Tombs & David Whyte, 2013. "Transcending the deregulation debate? Regulation, risk, and the enforcement of health and safety law in the UK," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 7(1), pages 61-79, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:reggov:v:7:y:2013:i:1:p:61-79
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1748-5991.2012.01164.x
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1748-5991.2012.01164.x
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/j.1748-5991.2012.01164.x?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Baldwin, Robert & Black, Julia, 2007. "Really responsive regulation," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 23105, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Black, Julia, 2002. "Critical reflections on regulation," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 35985, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Matthias Beck & Andrew Watterson, 2022. "Privatization and Multi-Fatality Disasters: A Causal Connection Exposing Both Worker and Citizen Health and Safety Failures in the UK?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(20), pages 1-12, October.
    2. Stephen Mustchin & Miguel Martínez Lucio, 2023. "The fragmenting occupation of labour inspection and the degradation of regulatory and enforcement work inside the British state," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 44(2), pages 526-546, May.
    3. Donna Brown & Jonathan Wadsworth, 2022. "Accidents will happen: (de)regulation of health and safety legislation, workplace accidents and self employment," CEP Discussion Papers dp1855, Centre for Economic Performance, LSE.
    4. Christine Parker, 2013. "Twenty years of responsive regulation: An appreciation and appraisal," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 7(1), pages 2-13, March.
    5. Nicholas Lord, 2023. "Prosecution Deferred, Prosecution Exempt: On the Interests of (In)Justice in the Non-Trial Resolution of Transnational Corporate Bribery," The British Journal of Criminology, Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, vol. 63(4), pages 848-866.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Aven, T. & Ylönen, M., 2016. "Safety regulations: Implications of the new risk perspectives," Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 164-171.
    2. Ian Loader & Adam White, 2017. "How can we better align private security with the public interest? Towards a civilizing model of regulation," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 11(2), pages 166-184, June.
    3. Gowthorp, Lisa & Greenhow, Annette & O’Brien, Danny, 2016. "An interdisciplinary approach in identifying the legitimate regulator of anti-doping in sport: The case of the Australian Football League," Sport Management Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 48-60.
    4. Oleh Pasko, 2018. "Theories of Regulation in the Context of Modern Practice of Accounting Regulation," Oblik i finansi, Institute of Accounting and Finance, issue 2, pages 37-46, June.
    5. Justo-Hanani, Ronit & Dayan, Tamar, 2014. "The role of the state in regulatory policy for nanomaterials risk: Analyzing the expansion of state-centric rulemaking in EU and US chemicals policies," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 169-178.
    6. Minogue, Martin, 2005. "Apples and Oranges: Problems in the Analysis of Comparative Regulatory Governance," Centre on Regulation and Competition (CRC) Working papers 30589, University of Manchester, Institute for Development Policy and Management (IDPM).
    7. repec:hal:spmain:info:hdl:2441/5404 is not listed on IDEAS
    8. Bärbel R. Dorbeck‐Jung & Mirjan J. Oude Vrielink & Jordy F. Gosselt & Joris J. Van Hoof & Menno D. T. De Jong, 2010. "Contested hybridization of regulation: Failure of the Dutch regulatory system to protect minors from harmful media," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 4(2), pages 154-174, June.
    9. Michiel A. Heldeweg, 2017. "Normative Alignment, Institutional Resilience and Shifts in Legal Governance of the Energy Transition," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(7), pages 1-34, July.
    10. Tanita Northcott & Mark Lawrence & Christine Parker & Phillip Baker, 2023. "Ecological regulation for healthy and sustainable food systems: responding to the global rise of ultra-processed foods," Agriculture and Human Values, Springer;The Agriculture, Food, & Human Values Society (AFHVS), vol. 40(3), pages 1333-1358, September.
    11. repec:spo:wpmain:info:hdl:2441/5404 is not listed on IDEAS
    12. Cheng, Kuo-Tai, 2013. "Governance mechanisms and regulation in the utilities: An investigation in a Taiwan sample," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 17-22.
    13. John Braithwaite & Cary Coglianese & David Levi‐Faur, 2007. "Can regulation and governance make a difference?," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 1(1), pages 1-7, March.
    14. Alexandra Hessling & Hanno Pahl, 2006. "The Global System of Finance," American Journal of Economics and Sociology, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 65(1), pages 189-218, January.
    15. Minogue, Martin, 2008. "What connects regulatory governance to poverty?," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 189-201, May.
    16. Suparna Karmakar, 2010. "GATS : Domestic Regulations versus Market Access," Working Papers id:2903, eSocialSciences.
    17. Xuehua Zhang, 2016. "Judicial enforcement deputies: Causes and effects of Chinese judges enforcing environmental administrative decisions," Regulation & Governance, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 10(1), pages 29-43, March.
    18. Carmen Arguedas, 2013. "Pollution standards, technology investment and fines for non-compliance," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 44(2), pages 156-176, October.
    19. Matthew Bacon & Toby Seddon, 2020. "Controlling Drug Users: Forms of Power and Behavioural Regulation in Drug Treatment Services," The British Journal of Criminology, Centre for Crime and Justice Studies, vol. 60(2), pages 403-421.
    20. Kumar, Shashwat, 2020. "Diffusion agents and institutional change: The variable influence of independent regulatory agencies across sectors in India," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    21. Kenneth Patrick Vincent O'Sullivan & Stephen Kinsella, 2013. "Financial and regulatory failure: The case of Ireland," Journal of Banking Regulation, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 14(1), pages 1-15, January.
    22. Hutter, Bridget M., 2006. "The role of non-state actors in regulation," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 36118, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:reggov:v:7:y:2013:i:1:p:61-79. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1111/(ISSN)1748-5991 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.