C5 - Principles

Question 1

Name the five principles of enforcement and state their origin.

Answer 1

The five principles of enforcement originate from the Regulator’s Code, which is in turn embodied within ONR’s Policy statement.

They are:

1. Proportionality - enforcement proportionate to the risk gap.
2. Accountability - regulators are accountable to the public for their actions.
3. Consistency - taking a similar approach in similar circumstances to achieve similar ends.
4. Targeting - focussing activity on areas of greatest risk or where hazards are least well controlled.
5. Transparency - ensuring that duty holders understand regulatory expectations.

Question 2

Explain what is meant by proportionality and how it is achieved.

Answer 2

The objective is to enforce in proportion to the gap between regulatory expectation for compliance and the prevailing risk (or, in other words, the quantum of action required to mitigate current risk towards full legal compliance).

Examples of where proportionality is applied include:

Application of the ONR EMM.

Use of informal means to achieve the desired outcome.

Application of compliance status categories to sites/licensees.

Establishment of permissioning strategies for major programmes.

Question 3

Explain what is meant by accountability and how it is achieved.

Answer 3

We are accountable ultimately to the public but also to parliament for our acts and omissions.

Example of how accountability is demonstrated include:

Reports made to parliament
Policy statements
Accounts made in public concerning specific high profile cases of enforcement
Our public-facing digital platform

Are we accountable to duty-holders?
To which department in government are we accountable?
How are we accountable for our costs and efficiency?

Question 4

Explain what is meant by consistency and how it is achieved.

Answer 4

We seek to take similar approaches to similar circumstances to achieve similar ends.

We achieve this through:

Publication of internal guidance - SAPs, TAGs and SyOps etc.
Governance arrangements.
Workflow management eg Wired
Establishment of specialisms

Question 5

Explain what is meant by targeting and how it is achieved.

Answer 5

We seek to target upon those activities that pose the greatest risk, or where the hazard is least well controlled. Or where licensee performance has shown to warrant enhanced regulatory attention.

This is achieved through:

Permissioning strategies.
Regulatory designation of licensee or site risk surveillance categories
Risk-Informed targeting and engagement policies
Planning of inspections and their governance eg Wired workflow management

Question 6

Explain what is meant by transparency and how it is achieved.

Answer 6

Transparency in a regulatory context aims to ensure that duty holders are fully aware of regulatory expectations.

This is achieved through

Publication of SAPs and guidance to inspectors
Strategic guidance to prospective duty-holders eg on GDA and Licensing.
Implementation of common policy on report production, ratings etc.
Formalised and structured arrangements concerning the issuance of formal notices and regulatory issues (e.g. route to green). Wired facilitates.