Browse regulations

The M3 Junction 9 Development Consent Order 2024 grants development consent to National Highways Limited for road infrastructure works including new junctions, bridges, a gyratory system, footpaths, cycle tracks, and associated development on the M3 and A34 near Winchester. It confers powers of compulsory acquisition, street works, traffic regulation, and classification of roads. The Order contains requirements, deemed consents, and provisions for transfer of benefits.

This Development Consent Order exemplifies the Planning Act 2008 regime that imposes top-down state coordination on infrastructure provision, restricting market-driven solutions. While infrastructure projects may have merit, the mandatory DCO process for 'nationally significant' projects creates a bottleneck, delays delivery, and uses compulsory acquisition powers that override property rights. Britons would be better served by allowing private parties to negotiate and deliver road improvements through voluntary arrangements, with competition ensuring efficient delivery rather than a single authorised undertaker with exclusive powers. The Order's extensive deviations from normal planning processes—deemed consents, exemptions from street works regulations, and restrictions on challenge—are features of a dirigiste system incompatible with a free-trading Britain.

These Regulations bring section 68 (extension of home detention curfew) of the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 into force on 17th June 2024. They extend to England and Wales and represent a commencement order for a specific provision.

As a pure commencement order, deleting this regulation would create legal uncertainty about when section 68 of the Victims and Prisoners Act 2024 takes effect. Unlike substantive regulations that impose compliance costs or restrictions, this instrument merely activates a date for an already-enacted statutory provision. Without it, the extension of home detention curfew would lack formal commencement, potentially disrupting prison population management and operational planning. Its removal would create a legal gap without reducing any regulatory burden.

Temporary traffic regulation Order for M4 Motorway (Prince of Wales Bridge) implementing speed restrictions (50mph/40mph), width restrictions for vehicles, contraflow system, and lane/carriageway closures during bridge deck repairs. Operational from 1st July 2024 for up to 18 months, with exemptions for emergency vehicles, special forces, and maintenance vehicles.

Britons would be worse off without this regulation because: (1) Bridge deck repairs cannot be safely conducted without traffic management controls; (2) Removal would compromise safety of road users and workers during essential infrastructure maintenance on a critical national artery; (3) The M4 is a major transportation route serving millions of vehicles; (4) Speed limits and width restrictions are proportionate safety measures directly necessary for the works; (5) Appropriate exemptions exist for emergency services and works vehicles; (6) This is not EU-derived regulation but a domestic temporary traffic order addressing specific maintenance needs — it achieves its public safety purpose in a way that cannot be replicated through voluntary action.

This Order amends the Power to Award Degrees etc. (Dyson Technical Training Limited) Order 2020 to re-authorize Dyson Technical Training Limited (company no. 10701273) to grant taught awards under section 42(2)(a) of the relevant Act for a fixed term from 1st September 2024 to 30th November 2027. It also permits Dyson to authorize other institutions to grant such awards on its behalf.

Degree-awarding authority is a government-granted monopoly that restricts who can enter the higher education market. This regulation prevents market competition in credentialing—businesses and individuals cannot freely choose who issues their credentials. The fixed-term authorization creates unnecessary regulatory uncertainty and renewal costs. Britons would be better served by a system where academic standards are maintained through voluntary accreditation bodies and market reputation, not state-enforced monopolies on credential issuance. Removing this regulation would open the education market to more competition, potentially lowering costs and increasing innovation in technical training provision.

This Order appoints named individuals as His Majesty's Inspectors of Education, Children's Services and Skills, taking effect on 11th July 2024. It is a procedural appointment instrument under the Education and Inspections Act 2006.

This Order merely fills existing statutory posts with named individuals—it does not create regulatory burden, restrict supply, or impose costs. Deleting it would create a governance vacuum in the inspectorate without reducing any actual regulatory regime. The regulatory costs of inspection stem from Ofsted's operational framework, not from individual appointment orders. This is a constitutionally necessary administrative act.

The Mallard Pass Solar Farm Order is a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) development consent order granting development consent for a solar farm and associated development. It grants extensive powers to the undertaker (Mallard Pass Solar Farm Limited) including compulsory acquisition of land, street works, alteration of public rights of way, and temporary closures. The Order contains 18 requirements covering design, construction, environmental management, landscaping, drainage, decommissioning, and ongoing operation. It disapplies various environmental and planning legislation including provisions of the Land Drainage Act 1991, Water Resources Act 1991, Environmental Permitting Regulations 2016, Hedgerows Regulations 1997, and Tree Preservation Regulations 2012. The Order requires dozens of management plans and regulatory approvals from the relevant planning authority.

This Order exemplifies the NSIP regime's fundamental flaw: it grants a private company (Mallard Pass Solar Farm Limited) sweeping powers of compulsory acquisition, street alteration, and public right-of-way closure, while simultaneously bypassing normal planning controls through legislative disapplication. The 18 requirements and numerous mandatory management plans create a bureaucratic quagmire requiring approval from the relevant planning authority at every phase. Rather than allowing solar development to proceed through the market or standard planning process, this Order creates a privileged corporate enclave subject to 12 separate environmental management plan requirements, decorative 'permissive paths,' and ongoing regulatory supervision. The proper mechanism for energy infrastructure is not bespoke Orders that override property rights and local authority jurisdiction, but either market competition or clear, uniform regulatory standards applied equally to all developers.

A technical correction order that fixes errors in the Awel y Môr Offshore Wind Farm Order by providing a table of amendments specifying where corrections are made, what text is substituted/inserted/omitted, and how. It comes into force on 17th July 2024.

This is a clerical correction that removes errors from an existing Order. Deleting it would leave the underlying Awel y Môr Offshore Wind Farm Order riddled with mistakes, creating legal uncertainty for the project developers, contractors, and affected parties. Correct legal instruments facilitate rather than impede economic activity. There are no regulatory costs to the correction itself — it merely ensures the original Order functions as intended.

This Order amends the Hornsea Four Offshore Wind Farm Order 2023 by reducing the duration of kittiwake breeding season protection requirements in Schedule 16 from four full breeding seasons to two full breeding seasons. It comes into force on 18th July 2024.

This amendment appears to weaken environmental protections for kittiwakes without clear justification that the original four-season requirement was excessive. The underlying Order remains intact; this amendment simply erodes a protective standard. If four breeding seasons was sufficient evidence-based protection originally, no sufficient case has been made for halving it. Britons would be marginally worse off under this amendment as it represents a relaxation of biodiversity safeguards with no demonstrated corresponding benefit, potentially harming coastal ecosystems that support fishing and tourism industries.

The Sunnica Energy Farm Order 2024 is a Development Consent Order (DCO) granted under the Planning Act 2008 for a nationally significant infrastructure project comprising a solar farm with battery storage (approximately 500MW) in Cambridgeshire and Suffolk. The Order grants development consent, authorises compulsory acquisition of land, permits street works, diversions of public rights of way, drainage connections to watercourses and sewers, and imposes environmental and operational requirements. It disapplies certain legislative provisions including elements of the Land Drainage Act 1991 and Environmental Permitting Regulations where incompatible with the authorised development.

While this Order represents extensive regulatory intervention, deletion would strand substantial investment, create legal uncertainty for a project that underwent rigorous examination under the Planning Act 2008, and deny Britons the economic and energy security benefits of new renewable generation capacity. The project has already been approved through a statutory process with public participation. Removing this Order would not restore a free market but would instead arbitrarily undo a finalised decision, harming those who invested in reliance on it and removing potential competition to established energy suppliers.

The Gate Burton Energy Park Order 2024 is a Development Consent Order (DCO) granted under the Planning Act 2008 authorizing the construction and operation of a major energy infrastructure project (generating station, likely solar/battery) in Lincolnshire. The Order grants the undertaker (Gate Burton Energy Park Limited) extensive powers including: street works and alteration of streets (articles 8-10), temporary closure of public rights of way (article 11), traffic regulation measures (article 13), compulsory purchase and land rights, and various exemptions from environmental and planning legislation. It also imposes requirements relating to archaeology, drainage, landscaping, and environmental management.

This Order authorises productive infrastructure that will generate electricity, create economic activity, and contribute to energy security. Unlike EU-derived regulatory legislation that imposes bureaucratic costs without corresponding benefits, a DCO is project-specific consent that consolidates multiple approvals into a single mechanism. The extensive requirements (archaeological mitigation, environmental management plans, drainage strategies) ensure the project accounts for externalities. Deleting this Order would not reduce regulatory burden—it would merely prevent the energy park from operating within its authorised limits, forgoing substantial economic and energy-generation benefits.

UK Statutory Instrument granting ESCP Europe Business School authorisation to award taught degrees up to master's level in business and management subjects, with power to sub-authorise other institutions, for a fixed term expiring 2 December 2030.

This Order exemplifies the government's monopoly control over degree-awarding power, which is fundamentally anti-competitive and restricts market entry in higher education. Rather than allowing institutions to earn reputation through market competition, the state picks winners by granting exclusive authorisation. The scheduled expiration does not justify retention — Britons are better served by abolishing this monopoly entirely rather than perpetuating a system where degree awarding requires state permission. ESCP and other institutions should compete on quality; they should not need government authorisation to grant credentials.

A UK Statutory Instrument granting Green Volt Offshore Windfarm Limited a 35-year exemption from the Electricity Act 1989's supply licence requirement, permitting direct supply of up to 195.5MW of electricity from its offshore windfarm to offshore oil/gas installations. Subject to reporting conditions.

This Order grants a targeted, time-limited exemption that reduces regulatory burden rather than adding it. Deleting it would harm Britons by forcing unnecessary licensing requirements onto a specific renewable energy project serving offshore installations, potentially discouraging investment in offshore wind generation that displaces fossil fuel use. The exemption is narrowly tailored to one company for one project, includes a 35-year sunset, a clear power cap, and reporting requirements that ensure accountability without being unduly burdensome.

A corrections Order that fixes errors in the National Grid (Yorkshire Green Energy Enablement Project) Order 2024. It contains a table in Schedule 1 specifying which corrections to make (substitutions, insertions, or omissions) and how. This is administrative house-keeping legislation with no substantive policy content.

This is a corrections Order that rectifies errors in the underlying 2024 Order. Deleting it would leave uncorrected mistakes in the statute book, which could create legal ambiguity, implementation disputes, and project delays for the Yorkshire Green Energy Enablement infrastructure. Unlike substantive regulations that impose new costs or restrictions, corrections Orders merely clarify existing law and reduce transaction costs. Britons would be worse off without these corrections as they ensure legal certainty for the energy infrastructure project.

Amends the Illegal Migration Act 2023 by replacing references to 'the day on which this Act is passed' with 'the day on which this section came into force in relation to the person', and omits several provisions relating to claims made on or after the date of passing (7 March 2023), including sections 5(7), 6(12), 22(8)-(10), 28(12), and 30(4)-(7). Also removes 'on or after 7 March 2023' language from various provisions.

While the underlying Illegal Migration Act 2023 represents significant state intervention in individual liberty, these amendment regulations actually mitigate harm by correcting overbroad retrospective provisions that would have captured individuals based on an earlier date than intended. Deleting these amendments would leave in place more restrictive, poorly drafted provisions. However, the parent Act itself remains a prime candidate for full repeal as it represents exactly the kind of bureaucratic immigration control thatAdam Smith would have decried — restricting voluntary exchange and movement across borders.

These regulations provide tax exemptions and reliefs for compensation payments made under two schemes related to the Post Office Horizon scandal: the Horizon Convictions Redress Scheme (for wrongly convicted individuals) and the Horizon Shortfall Scheme (for sub-postmasters with financial shortfalls). They designate these payments as 'qualifying payments' under Schedule 15 of the Finance Act 2020, exempting them from income tax, capital gains tax, and inheritance tax, and providing corresponding relief from tax on disposals and deaths.

These regulations do not restrict economic activity or create regulatory burden—they remove a tax burden from victims of a historic injustice. Deleting them would leave compensated victims with a reduced effective remedy, as tax would diminish their compensation awards. Unlike traditional regulation that distorts incentives or suppresses supply, these merely ensure the government's own compensation schemes achieve their intended remedial purpose without fiscal friction. The Horizon scandal represents a rare case where government-caused harm is being corrected, and these provisions are ancillary to that correction rather than independent regulatory intervention.