Regulation in the UK public sector involves five types of waste:
1. The costs of people spending time writing specifications
2. The costs of inspection
3. The costs of preparing for inspection
4. The costs of the specifications being wrong
5. The costs of demoralisation
[from Seddon, J 2008 ‘Systems Thinking in the Public Sector: the failure of the reform regime and a manifesto for a better way’, Triarchy Press, Chapter 15]
While the UK government has announced the closure of the Audit Commission the disease and its wastes remain.