The Leadership Award Shortlist

Nick Barter, Head of Better Regulation, Department for Transport

Nick Barter has pioneered initiatives that, collectively, have transformed Whitehall’s approach to challenging the case for regulation; providing real credibility to a key plank of the government’s growth agenda.

Nick has led the team which has undertaken a thorough review of both the Department’s future regulatory programme and existing regulatory framework in order to identify burdens to remove. He played a pivotal role in:

•    Pioneering the ‘Star Chamber’ approach, challenging colleagues on the need for regulatory proposals and existing regulations;
•    Pioneering the concept of ‘Tiger Teams’ for providing additional independent challenge – a small group thinking from scratch about creative reduction of regulation, systematically investigating and challenging the rationale for each legislative instrument;
•    Inviting representatives from key stakeholder organisations to provide additional challenge to the review of regulations under the RTC.

In launching these initiatives Nick has demonstrated exceptional innovation, creativity and professionalism. In inviting both internal and external challenge, Nick has displayed an objective and impartial approach to the better regulation agenda as well as an insatiable appetite for continuous learning; his passion for which is contagious. Nick has not once failed to act with integrity, honesty, impartiality and objectivity and the collaborative success of his team has been commended by the Department as a ‘new and improved way of working’.

The joint challenge process pioneered by Nick has now become the best practice approach adopted by the rest of Whitehall.