Browse regulations

This Order appoints named individuals as Her Majesty's Inspectors of Education, Children's Services and Skills, effective 21st May 2020. It is an administrative appointment instrument that brings specific persons into post as statutory inspectors.

This Order merely fills existing statutory positions with named individuals. Deleting it would leave inspector posts vacant, disrupting essential oversight of educational settings, children's services, and skills providers. The underlying inspection framework exists independently; this Order simply ensures it is staffed. Without appointed inspectors, there would be no formal accountability mechanism for schools, colleges, and children's services—harming the very vulnerable populations it protects. Appointment orders do not themselves impose regulatory burdens; they are procedural necessities for a functioning oversight system.

The M42 Junction 6 Development Consent Order 2020 grants development consent for highway improvements at Junction 6 of the M42 motorway in the West Midlands, including construction of new roads, bridges, slip roads, and associated infrastructure. It confers powers on Highways England to acquire land, carry out works, temporarily stop up streets, and construct classified roads. The Order contains standard highways law provisions for a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project under the Planning Act 2008.

This Development Consent Order facilitates rather than restricts economic activity. Unlike gold-plated EU regulations or supply-conricting planning policies, this Order enables infrastructure investment that enhances Britain's transportation network. It grants consent for a specific road improvement project, not a regulatory burden. Without such project-specific consents, major infrastructure cannot proceed, leaving Britain worse off with deteriorating transportation capacity. The Order's provisions for street works coordination, temporary traffic management, and road classification are standard infrastructure delivery mechanisms necessary for major projects.

The Communications (Jersey) Order 2020 is a short territorial extent Order that extends amendments to the Communications Act 2003 (made by section 89 of the Digital Economy Act 2017) to Jersey, a Crown dependency. It comes into force on 1st June 2020 and contains standard definitional provisions.

This Order extends regulatory provisions to Jersey without evidence of democratic request from Jersey's own legislature. It exemplifies the pattern of regulatory expansion without proper scrutiny — exactly the kind of inherited EU-era approach this review seeks to eliminate. There is no demonstrated harm to Britons from deleting this extension order; if Jersey requires these provisions, its own legislature can enact them. Keeping it maintains regulatory overreach into Crown dependencies without corresponding benefit.

The Census (England and Wales) Order 2020 establishes the legal framework for conducting the 2021 census in England and Wales. It defines key terms including 'usual resident', 'reckonable visitor', 'household', and 'householder', specifies the census date (21 March 2021), and sets out who must make returns (householders, managers of certain premises, and individuals in various group settings). The Order specifies what information must be collected across different categories including resident particulars, visitor particulars, demographic particulars, education and employment particulars, and accommodation particulars, with various age-based exceptions.

The census is a fundamental public good that markets cannot adequately provide. Without this Order, there would be no legal obligation for participation and no framework for collecting essential demographic data. Census data underpins parliamentary seat allocation, local government funding, housing planning, healthcare resource distribution, and economic planning. The minor compliance cost of completing census returns is vastly outweighed by the societal benefits of comprehensive population data. Deletion would leave Britain unable to effectively plan services, allocate resources, or understand its population structure — harms that would disproportionately fall on the most vulnerable.

This Order, made under the European Communities Act 1972, designated the Secretary of State in relation to measures relating to access to or pursuit of a regulated profession. It came into force on 17th June 2020 and expressly ceased to have effect on IP completion day (31 December 2020).

The Order has already ceased to have effect and is permanently expired. It was a transitional Brexit measure under the now-repealed European Communities Act 1972, serving only to maintain EU professional qualification directive designations during the implementation period. Since IP completion day, it has no legal force and no future application. Keeping it on the statute book serves no purpose and merely clutters legislation with dead law.

Emergency regulations enacted on 23rd May 2020 to amend Working Tax Credit rules during the COVID-19 pandemic. They treat furloughed employees and 'coronavirus-impacted workers' as engaged in qualifying remunerative work, extend transitional provisions when workers cease to be furloughed, preserve the 30-hour element for those working reduced hours due to coronavirus, and include coronavirus support scheme payments in income calculations. The regulations were time-limited to the duration of the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme and incorporated specific definitions, guidance references, and exemptions tied to the pandemic period.

These regulations were emergency crisis legislation explicitly designed for the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020. The Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme has long since ended, making the core definitions (furloughed employee, coronavirus-impacted worker) and the intricate transitional rules in regulation 7E obsolete. The regulation incorporates static references to government guidance documents from May 2020 that are no longer updated. While the underlying principle of handling temporary work disruptions remains valid, this specific regulatory architecture was a time-limited response to a once-in-a-century emergency. The general framework of the 2002 Regulations can handle non-coronavirus related work disruptions through existing provisions. Keeping this regulation creates regulatory clutter from a specific historical crisis that has passed, while the underlying tax credits framework remains intact to handle future situations through its normal rules.

Temporary regulations enacted in May 2020 to modify traffic order procedures during the coronavirus pandemic, allowing authorities to use alternative publication methods (online, leaflets, letters) instead of newspaper notices when COVID-19 restrictions made normal publication impractical. Added 'Part VI' provisions to three principal regulations with a built-in expiry of 30th April 2021. Included transitional provisions to validate notices published under the alternative arrangements.

These regulations are a time-limited crisis response that has already expired (30th April 2021). The COVID-19 pandemic has passed, and the necessity for alternative notice procedures no longer exists. The regulation creates 'Part VI' provisions across three principal regulations that are now defunct text, yet leave behind orphaned 'subject to Part VI' references that create legislative confusion. Keeping expired, crisis-specific legislation that merely clutters the statute book serves no purpose. The underlying problems the regulation addressed no longer apply, and any future pandemic response can be addressed through fresh legislation if needed.

This Order detrunks a section of the A46 Coventry Eastern Bypass (approximately 3.5km), reclassifying it from a strategic trunk road to a classified road, with responsibility transferring from Highways England to Warwickshire County Council and Coventry City Council upon completion of the new trunk roads. The detrunking takes effect when Highways England notifies the councils that the new trunk roads are open for traffic. Part of the A46 Coventry Junctions Upgrade (Binley) package.

This detrunking Order transfers road management responsibility from a national strategic highways company to local councils, which aligns with subsidiarity principles. Deleting it would leave this section of A46 as an orphaned trunk road with unclear responsibility, blocking the upgrade project and leaving citizens with inferior infrastructure. The reclassification enables local democratic accountability for this road segment and is a precondition for the associated upgrade that will improve local traffic conditions.

This Order designates lengths of the A46 trunk road (Coventry Junctions Upgrade at Binley) as new trunk roads, transferring highway authority to Highways England. It describes the main new road and slip roads to be constructed, measured and routed as detailed in the Schedules, with trunk road status taking effect upon notification that the main new road is open for traffic.

This is administrative reclassification of road infrastructure, not a regulatory burden on economic activity. Deleting it would create uncertainty about highway authority responsibilities and road classification status. Infrastructure development of strategic trunk roads supports free trade and economic growth, unlike regulatory restrictions on private activity. The Order is narrowly scoped to designate already-planned public infrastructure.

Emergency COVID-19 regulation amending Statutory Sick Pay (General) Regulations 1982 to extend SSP eligibility to individuals advised by public health authorities to self-isolate due to contact with a coronavirus-infected person, requiring 14-day home isolation. Defines 'relevant notification' broadly across UK health bodies and government departments.

This emergency COVID-19 legislation from 2020 has no ongoing justification. The pandemic emergency has passed, and maintaining this regulation permanently represents inappropriate permanent expansion of statutory sick pay mandates into new categories. The contact-tracing self-isolation provision was a time-limited emergency measure, not a permanent feature of labor market regulation. Keeping it imposes ongoing costs on employers who must pay SSP to employees self-isolating due to contact (not illness), distorts employment decisions, and creates perverse incentives for indefinite self-isolation notifications. The public health objective can be achieved through voluntary employer policies, private insurance, or time-limited emergency frameworks rather than permanent statutory mandate.

Amendment to Schools Forums (England) Regulations 2012 to permit remote attendance at schools forum meetings during coronavirus. Defines 'remote means' to include telephone/video conferencing, webcasts, and live streaming. Specifies that remote attendees must be able to hear, be heard, see, and be seen by other members and the public where practicable.

This regulation imposes minimal burden and is essentially enabling rather than restrictive. Schools forums are advisory bodies on school funding, not commercial enterprises. The amendment reduces compliance costs by allowing remote participation, increases accessibility, and creates no market distortions. Unlike EU-derived regulations that impose bureaucratic burdens or gold-plated requirements, this is a domestic procedural flexibility measure with negligible economic impact. Deleting it would marginally inconvenience schools forums with no corresponding economic benefit.

Amends the Food Information Regulations 2014 by inserting Part 4 into Schedule 5, adding enforcement provisions for Article 26(3) of the Food Information for Consumers (FIC) Regulation, which requires mandatory country of origin or place of provenance indication for the primary ingredient of a food in certain cases.

This regulation imposes mandatory country of origin labeling requirements on food businesses, adding compliance costs and administrative burdens. Such labeling mandates distort supply chains, create barriers for smaller businesses, and presume to dictate what information consumers should receive rather than allowing voluntary market mechanisms to determine optimal disclosure. The regulation perpetuates the EU-derived regulatory approach of mandating disclosure rather than letting competition and consumer demand drive transparency.

Amendment to Education (Independent School Standards) Regulations 2014 modifying criminal record check requirements for independent school staff and proprietors. Adds definition of 'registered person', revises paragraphs 20(3), 20(5), 20(6)(c), 20(7) and 20(8) to streamline enhanced criminal record check processes, including allowing electronic transmission and removing some countersignature requirements. Made under coronavirus emergency procedures.

This regulation exemplifies the problem of EU-derived legislation being retained without democratic scrutiny — rushed through under coronavirus emergency procedures without proper parliamentary debate. The enhanced criminal record check regime creates significant compliance burdens for independent schools, acting as a barrier to entry that reduces competition in education provision. While protecting children is a legitimate goal, the specific mechanism of requiring Secretary of State involvement in every check via countersignature or transmission creates unnecessary bureaucratic friction. The regulatory burden on independent schools — already one of the most heavily regulated sectors — suppresses supply and limits parental choice. Market mechanisms and alternative verification systems could achieve child safety objectives with less state intervention and lower compliance costs.

Temporary amendment to School Discipline (Pupil Exclusions and Reviews) (England) Regulations 2012, enacted to address COVID-19 disruption between June-September 2020. Allows school discipline meetings to be held via remote access (video/audio) when in-person meetings are not reasonably practicable due to coronavirus. Extends time limits for exclusions reviews by 10 school days and extends the deadline to apply for review from 15 to 25 school days for 'relevant exclusions' (those occurring during the June-September 2020 window). Includes conditions requiring participant agreement, technical capability, and meeting transparency.

This regulation was explicitly time-limited to the June-September 2020 COVID-19 window and has become inoperative dead law. All 'relevant exclusions' defined by the regulation involve dates that have long passed (exclusions occurring on/after 1st June 2020 but before 25th September 2020). The mandatory review period of effectiveness (June-September 2020) has concluded. The underlying 2012 Regulations remain intact to govern pupil exclusions and reviews generally. This amendment serves no current function and adds unnecessary regulatory complexity to the statute book.

The Electronic Communications (Universal Service) (Costs) Regulations 2020 implement a scheme administered by OFCOM to compensate universal service providers (e.g., BT, KCOM) for alleged unfair financial burdens in providing mandated universal service obligations (basic phone lines, payphones, directory services). The regulations establish: the process for determining unfair burdens; a fund mechanism for collecting contributions from other communications providers; OFCOM's powers to set contribution thresholds, proportions, and categories; consultation requirements; invoice and collection procedures; and provisions for additional contributions when payments are outstanding. The scheme requires communications providers to cross-subsidize universal service providers based on regulatory determinations of 'fairness' and 'unfair financial burden'.

This regulation perpetuates a forced cross-subsidization scheme that distorts market competition, creates administrative burdens, and uses bureaucratic allocation rather than market processes. Universal service obligations themselves create the 'unfair' burden by mandating that certain providers serve unprofitable areas — the solution to government-imposed costs should not be more government-mandated transfers. The extensive discretionary powers granted to OFCOM (determining 'fairness,' contribution proportions, categories, and additional contributions) create regulatory capture opportunities and compliance uncertainty. Post-Brexit, Britain should not retain this bureaucratic mechanism for redistributing costs between private actors based on regulatory conceptions of fairness; rather, universal service obligations should be reconsidered entirely or replaced with competitive market mechanisms or targeted, transparent public subsidies.