ABSTRACT
In this chapter, I shall describe the practice of UK regulators in permitting participation by groups and individuals when regulatory decisions are made and assess the potential those regulators have to expand such participation. I shall assume for the purposes of this book that the legitimacy of participation in this context is agreed, and shall concentrate on the different devices adopted and the different models of regulation which they assume. In particular, I shall contrast the distinction between the legal model adopted for utility regulation with the rather different model applied by the regulators themselves which, I shall argue, requires that effective regulation implies wide participation and so undermines the familiar opposition of legitimacy and efficiency in this context. I shall then finish with a brief discussion of some of the issues currently unresolved in the debates. As these introductory remarks suggest, my concern will be almost exclusively with the utility regulators in telecommunications, water, gas, electricity and transport, but I shall also make brief reference to broadcasting and civil aviation. Another chapter could be written on horizontal regulation, for example, in the form of health and safety requirements.1
