Prospect deputy vice president Neil Hope-Collins argued that government cuts were damaging the ability of agencies like the Health and Safety Executive to properly regulate.

He said:

“Regulation matters, regulation protects. Regulation protects the environment, it protects people, and it protects good jobs.

“Regulation protects our members, their world and their future.

“Over the past few governments a myth has grown up.  The myth that regulation is a burden, that regulation stifles and inhibits.

“Congress the only people that regulation inhibits are those who wish to bully and exploit.”

The motion was seconded by shopworkers union USDAW and passed unanimously through conference.

The TUC is now instructed to make properly resourced and funded regulators part of its campaigning on public services and industrial strategy.