Dozens more reviews are to be launched next year – with Labour found to have promised more than 100 before the election.
Ministers have come under fire this week for setting up at least 67 reviews, consultations and taskforces since coming into office.
The number has prompted accusations that the new government is more interested in ‘talking shops’ than in taking the tough decisions needed to improve public services.
But it can be revealed today that many more are in the pipeline.
Analysis by the Conservatives has identified a staggering 105 reviews promised in Labour MPs’ speeches, interviews and reports while in opposition.
Last night, a Conservative party spokesman told the Mail: ‘Labour told the country they had a programme for government but it’s clear this simply isn’t the case. It would seem the countless reviews we have suffered through already are just the tip of the iceberg.’
Labour’s manifesto alone pledged 16 reviews if the party won the election.
Ministers have come under fire this week for setting up at least 67 reviews, consultations and taskforces since coming into office
In foreign policy, David Lammy said the Foreign Office needed an ‘independent review’ while Sir Keir Starmer said ‘we will do a review’ of arms sales to Saudi Arabia
Of these, only a handful have so far begun, including the strategic defence review, the review of the Right to Buy and the review of sentencing.
Most are yet to be launched – reviews of combined authorities, probation, universal credit, employment rules for ex-ministers and modernisation of the House of Lords.
An official Labour document published in January also pledged a ‘review of the regulatory landscape’ in financial services.
And while in opposition, Labour promised reviews into the criminal justice system that would look at charging decisions, strip-searching of children, indecent exposure and offender management.
In foreign policy, David Lammy said the Foreign Office needed an ‘independent review’ while Sir Keir Starmer said ‘we will do a review’ of arms sales to Saudi Arabia.
The Labour leader also announced in January that former MP Luciana Berger would lead a mental health strategy review, while top barrister Marina Wheeler was appointed in 2023 to review laws affecting women
The Labour leader also announced in January that former MP Luciana Berger would lead a mental health strategy review, while top barrister Marina Wheeler was appointed in 2023 to review laws affecting women.
Even where ministers have made major announcements since the election, they have often left much of the detail to future reviews.
The party insists it is right to keep carrying out large numbers of reviews, despite Home Office minister Jess Phillips admitting on Tuesday she feels frustrated as she wants to ‘crack on’ with implementing policies.
A party source said: ‘We make no apologies for consulting business, experts and communities on the policies that matter to them.
‘Unlike the Tories who sent the country backwards after spending 14 years paralysed by fights, we are already delivering the change the country voted for.’
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